Gujarat Lions got off to a perfect start in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as they defeated the Kings XI Punjab by five wickets at Mohali. The Kings who have recently had a terrible start to the innings with opening pairs had an especially good opening stand between Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra.
However, Dwayne Bravo showed why he is considered one of the best bowlers in T20 as he picked up four wickets to help his side reduce the total that KXIP put up on board.
In reply, the newcomers were up to the task despite losing Brendon McCullum early on. Australian batsman, Aaron Finch proved why he is a valuable asset at the top of the order as he scored a well-orchestrated fifty to help set the foundation for an easy chase for the Lions.
Here are the major stats from the game:
1 – This was the first time that David Miller batted at No. 3 in the IPL.
1 – This was the first time that Brendon McCullum was dismissed for a duck in the last 42 IPL innings.
2 – Aaron Finch's 74 is the second highest individual score in the IPL to have no six hit. Mandeep Singh's 77* in 2013 was the first instance.
2 – Aaron Finch became the second player to have featured for six teams in the IPL after Parthiv Patel.
2 – Suresh Raina hit a six off the second ball on his debut for Chennai Super Kings. He did the same today for Gujarat Lions.
2 – This was the second time in the IPL that David Miller and Glenn Maxwell were dismissed by the same bowler in a match. Before Dwayne Bravo in today's match, only Sreenath Aravind dismissed both the batsmen in the 2015 IPL.
3 – All three matches of the IPL so far were won by the team chasing.
4/22 – This was the best bowling figures for Dwayne Bravo in the IPL. His previous best was 4/42 for CSK against MI in 2013.
7 – In the last nine IPL seasons, Kings XI Punjab have lost their first match of the season seven times.
42 – Murali Vijay's score in the first innings was his highest since the start of the 2015 IPL season. Last season his highest score was 39.
74 – Aaron Finch's knock for the Gujarat Lions is his second highest score in the IPL. His best is 88* that he scored against the Delhi Daredevils in 2014.
78 – The opening partnership between Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra was their first 50-plus partnership in Mohali since 67 was made by Adam Gilchrist and Paul Valthaty in 2011. In the last season, Punjab did not have a single partnership of 50-plus for the first wicket.
133 – This was the 133rd IPL match that Suresh Raina has played. He never missed a single match in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings and now Gujarat Lions.
300 – Dwayne Bravo became the first bowler to reach the milestone of picking up 300 wickets in the IPL.
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