Matchday 3 of IPL has come and gone. New franchise Gujarat Lions won their game convincingly against old-timers Kings XI Punjab.
The Kings started off very nicely as their openers put up a total of 78 before a collapse and then a recovery. The final score stood at 161, which was a tricky total. However, the Lions played some sensible cricket and showed great teamwork to chase down the total with ease.
There were several moments in the match that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes. Here are 5 of the best:
Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra’s start
Murali Vijay will perhaps never be considered for the Indian T20I team, and why should he? With an average of a mere 18.77 and a sadistic total of 169 runs in 9 innings, he is far down the pecking order among the openers.
However, when it comes to the IPL, he is a different beast altogether.
His average skyrockets to 24 and his strike-rate shoots up to 121 from 109. He is among the most consistent performers in the league and today he showed that again—and he was well supported by the talented Manan Vohra.
Both put a partnership of 78 before Vohra departed for a well-made 38 runs in 23 balls in the 9th over. Murali Vijay also departed 2 overs later after playing a good innings of 42 from 34.
Bravo is a champion
DJ Bravo… DJ Bravo… DJ Bravo… Yes, you get it. DJ Bravo is the talk of the town for his virally hit single Champion, a song that has taken the cricket fraternity by storm. Bravo’s new found fame as a singer hasn’t hindered his game, however, as he put in a sensational spell of bowling to tie down a dangerous Punjab side for 161—a score which was much less than what was expected with the start Vijay and Vohra gave them.
In the 4 overs that he bowled, he gave away only 22 runs and took 4 wickets—dismantling the middle order completely. At point, it seemed as though they wouldn’t even reach 150 if it weren’t for…
Marcus Stoinis’ sensational debut
Marcus Stoinis is still a relatively unknown name outside Australia. In his country, however, he is a highly rated upcoming player —and today he showed just why Punjab wanted him so badly.
He came to bat a time when Dwayne Bravo’s fury was at its peak and the Punjab middle-order knew not what hit them. But Stoinis was calm and just about knew what to do. In the 22 balls that he faced, he scored 33 runs and four 4s to carry Punjab to a respectable score of 161 in 20 overs.
Watch out for him, he is one to keep an eye out for.
Aaron Finch’s world class knock
Australians are generally highly rated, the great players of course. Aaron Finch, however, could be considered as somewhat of an exception here. In T20s, he has an average of 33.8—something which is extraordinary in this format—with a strike of 133.53, another astonishing number.
And today we got to see the best of him.
Opening the innings for Gujarat Lions, he got them off to a flier despite Brendon McCullum’s 2-ball duck. In an innings where he hit 12 boundaries to score 72 runs in just 47 balls, we saw what he is capable of and how Gujarat Lions become one of the favourites to win the tournament with him playing like he did today.
Dinesh Karthik’s finish
The whole structuring of Gujarat’s innings was a thing of beauty. While Aaron Finch gave them a great start, Suresh Raina a fast cameo, Dinesh Karthik came and finished the game in style.
The Indian wicketkeeper is a class act. His batting style is almost immaculate and oozes an aura of class because it is highly methodical. And it is with his methodical ability that he scored is 41 runs. He gives the impression that he can’t play aggressively, but the fact that he got his runs in just 26 balls shows the way to play strokes.
He made sure that the Lions didn’t slip up and saw his team over the line.
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