After the Sunrisers desecrated the Mumbai Indians, it was the Gujarat Lions’ turn to do the same to Kolkata Knight Riders. The home team batted first and their top order was demolished before Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan breathed life to their innings.
Gujarat Lions knew that they missed the opportunity to embarrass KKR, but made sure they made no more slip-ups as they batted fantastically to make sure that they finish the game with no hiccups.
With this win, GL have finally ended their losing drought and have taken a step forward towards the play-offs.
There were plenty of memorable moments in the match that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes. Here are 5 of the best:
Rare top order failure
KKR’s top order has been the most consistent in this year’s IPL. Both Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir have consistently performed in this tournament—leaving the middle order to do with very little.
However, today was one of those rare days when both of them failed to make an impact. Captain Gambhir got out for only 5 while Uthappa managed to get to double figures with 14 runs from 10 balls.
Manish Pandey came in at one-down, but had to leave with a duck beside his name. Suryakumar Yadav also couldn’t make a difference as he got out for 4 runs only.
Shakib steadies the ship
Shakib Al Hasan was having a poor tournament with the bat. In contrast, new boy Mustafizur Rahman has been a star in this IPL and it seems like the Bangladeshi all-rounder has become a forgotten name.
But form is temporary, class is permanent.
At a time of dire trouble, he played his best ever innings with the bat with a 49-ball 66 to help KKR out of the rut. His innings, however, went in vain in the end. Nonetheless, it was a great one.
Pathan on song
Yusuf Pathan seems to have finally found his mojo. The ideal situation for him to bat is with 5 overs to go and the only thing he needs to do is smash—like the Hulk.
However, time has its own demands and he had to come in much early—during the powerplay overs, to be precise. One would have thought that the adverse condition would make his approach cautious, but it did not.
He batted the only way that he knows as he smashed his way to a 41-ball 63 to save Kolkata Knight Riders the blushes.
Dinesh Karthik’s class
It is always a delight to watch Dinesh Karthik bat at his best. The meticulous way that he plays his shots is a picturesque scene in itself. And today we got to see exactly that.
Pune’s openers, Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum, gave them a healthy start before departing. All the other batsmen had to do was build on their good work and continue the way that they started. And Dinesh Karthik led the way on that front.
His innings was the game-changer as he scored 51 runs in just 29 balls to win it the game for his team with relative ease.
Aaron Finch’s fury
No matter where you put him to bat—be it as an opener or in the middle-order—he is going to score you runs. That is a guarantee that a team with Aaron Finch has.
He wasn’t one to take his time and settle down as he came down with all-guns-blazing, scoring 29 runs off just 10 balls to make sure that the game doesn’t go down the nervous final overs.
In the end, he had to leave the pitch in a livid mood as a mix-up by Ravindra Jadeja made him the victim of a silly run-out.
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