The Gujarat Lions took on Kolkata Knight Riders in an important encounter as the business end of the season approached. This was the 51st match of the IPL and the first at Kanpur. Both teams had played 12 games and were squared up at 14 points before the start of the game. KKR were at number 3 to that of 5 for GL due to better net run rate. This game was going to be vital for the prospects of both teams in the league. A win would strengthen the chances for a playoff spot and a loss would put them in a situation where they could be knocked out easily.
GL’s batting was boosted by the return of their skipper Suresh Raina. He had missed out on the last game and was set to take captaincy back from McCullum. KKR had a massive loss due to the injury of their premier all-rounder Andre Russell. He was bowling beautifully for them and was amongst the top wicket takers in the league. Someone badly needed to fill in his boots.
Both teams last met in Kolkata in earlier in the league. GL emerged victorious with an easy chase. KKR batted first and scored 158/4 in their 20 overs. They recovered from being 24/4 to get to a respectable total. A brilliant partnership of 134 runs between Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan gave the bowlers something to bowl at. But GL did not have too much trouble chasing the score down. Dinesh Karthik scored a half-century and guided the team home with 2 overs to spare.
This game was to be played at the Green Park Stadium at Kanpur. The pitch resembled the name of the stadium as it was green and had a lot of grass. It was going to be tough for the batsmen and fast bowlers were in for a treat.
Gujarat Lions won the toss and elected to field
Plating XIs:
Gujarat Lions:
Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Eklavya Dwivedi, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shadab Jakati
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Robin Uthappa (wk), Gautam Gambhir (c), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan, Jason Holder, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Ankit Rajpoot, Morne Morkel
KKR lost two early wickets
Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa started steadily without taking too many risks and took the score to 23 after 3 overs. Gambhir became a victim of Shadab Jakati’s sheer brilliance in the field. He dived to his left to stop a certain boundary and then hit the stump directly to send the KKR skipper packing. Manish Pandey was soon dismissed for just 1 run by Dwayne Smith who was filling in for the injured Praveen Kumar. Uthappa held one end as KKR reached 44/2 at the end of the powerplay.
Regular wickets hampered KKR’s progress
Just as the field restrictions were lifted, Dwayne Smith sent Uthappa back for 25 runs. He enjoyed bowling on the green deck. He struck again when he dismissed Piyush Chawla for 11 who was sent up the order, a move that didn’t work. He then picked up his fourth wicket as Shakib went for just 3 in the 12th over. A brilliant spell from Smith reduced KKR to 64/5 and 7 overs were yet to be played.
Disciplined bowling restricted KKR to 124
Yusuf Pathan battled hard and scored run a ball 36 before he was dismissed by Dhawal Kulkarni in the 19th over. Suryakumar Yadav and Jason Holder departed in quick succession. A wonderful bowling performance halted the strong KKR batting line-up to 124/8.
Dwayne Smith turned out to be the surprise package as he finished with the figures of 8/4 in his 4 overs. The pitch was tailor-made for his style of bowling. All other bowlers supported him well. KKR innings never really took off. They failed to recover from the early losses. Yusuf Pathan top-scored with 36. The target of 125 was not going to be too challenging for the strong GL batting line-up
A hot and cold start for GL
Ankit Rajpoot dismissed Dwayne Smith off the very first ball of the innings and provided KKR the ideal start on a green pitch. Suresh Raina came in to join Brendon McCullum. Soon, McCullum also departed for 6 when Sunil Narine got him out LBW.
Dinesh Karthik came in and got out after smashing a couple of fours. Morne Morkel castled him with a peach of a delivery. Raina from the other end kept the scoring rate up, due to which the score reached 55 after 6 overs for the loss of 3 wickets.
Raina hit top form
The GL skipper was due for a big score for a long time and he delivered this time. He was in a sublime touch in his typical batting style.
He hit some delightful strokes and kept the innings going comfortably despite losing wickets at the other end. Aaron Finch also played a nice hand of 26 but got run out due to a collision with Raina in the 10th over.
GL finished the game early
Raina reached his fifty in the 13th over and GL were within a touching distance at that stage. With Jadeja’s company at the other end, Raina guided the team home with 6.3 overs still to be bowled. He finished unbeaten with 53 runs off 36 balls with 6 fours and a six.
It was a crucial win for GL as they moved to number 2 spot on the points table. KKR slipped to number 4. Both teams were left with one game each in hand and all their chances rested on the results of those games. GL got vital 2 points and increased their chances to finish in the top 2.
Watch the match highlights here.
Match Result:
KKR 124/8 (20 overs) Yusuf 36, Smith 8/4, Jakati 22/1
GL 125/4 (13.3 overs) Raina 53, Finch 26, Narine 30/1
GL won by 6 wickets
MOM: Dwayne Smith
IPL 2016 Points Table and Standings
Position | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Net RR | Points |
1 | SRH | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | +0.400 | 16 |
2 | GL | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.479 | 16 |
3 | RCB | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | +0.930 | 14 |
4 | KKR | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | +0.022 | 14 |
5 | MI | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.082 | 14 |
6 | DD | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.125 | 12 |
7 | RPS | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | +0.013 | 8 |
8 | KXIP | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | -0.693 | 8 |
IPL 2016 Schedule
Date | Time (BST/IST) | Fixture | Venue |
May 20 | 8:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils v/s Sunrisers Hyderabad | Raipur |
May 21 | 4:00 PM | Rising Pune Supergiants v/s Kings XI Punjab | Visakhapatnam |
May 21 | 8:00 PM | Gujarat Lions v/s Mumbai Indians | Kanpur |
May 22 | 4:00 PM | Kolkat Knight Riders v/s Sunrisers Hyderabad | Kolkata |
| May 22 | 8:00 PM | Delhi Daredevils v/s Royal Challengers Bangalore | Raipur |
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