IPL 2017, GL vs SRH: Player Ratings

The Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad clash today at the Green Park in Kanpur was keenly awaited, by not just the two teams, but the IPL fraternity for more than one reason.

For one, it was going to be the final appearance in the IPL for the Gujarat Lions, whose 2-year contract ends this season. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad had a playoff berth to fight for. Other hopefuls like the Rising Pune Supergiant and Kings XI Punjab would have been following the game keenly too.

Eventually, Sunrisers Hyderabad coasted to an easy victory, chasing down 155 with as many as 8 wickets to spare, while Gujarat Lions bowed out of the IPL tournament on a disappointing note. Here’s a look at how players from both sides fared in this important clash:

Gujarat Lions

Ishan Kishan – 9

Ishan Kishan has been one of the best emerging talents of this season in the IPL. Promoted to open the innings, the teenager has given Gujarat Lions brisk starts. Today it was quite a sight to see Kishan overshadow the hard-hitting Dwayne Smith at one end by taking the onus of hitting the big shots.

Kishan took toll of the opening spells of all the Sunrisers bowlers and raced away to his first IPL fifty with a mishit six off Rashid Khan. He finally departed for a well-made 61(40).

Dwayne Smith – 8

Smith played second fiddle to his younger partner as he struggled to find his hitting zone initially against the pacers. However, the burly West Indian launched himself when the spinners were introduced and compensated for his slow start. He eventually finished with a 33-ball 54 in the 111-run opening stand.Praveen Kumar – 8

Praveen Kumar gave the Lions a slight hope when he rocked the Sunrisers batting with two early wickets. The fluent Shikhar Dhawan was deceived with a slow off-cutter, while Henriques edged an away going delivery to Karthik behind the stumps. He finished with excellent figures of 2/22 in his 4 overs.Ravindra Jadeja – 6

Jadeja added valuable runs in the end with an unbeaten knock of 20(14) and bowled a tidy 3 over spell for figures of 0/19.

Munaf Patel – 1

Munaf Patel bowled a relatively tidy spell of 3 overs for 22 runs and was the last man dismissed for the Lions, bowled for a golden duck by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Gujarat Lions skipper’s final appearance for the franchise ended on a disappointing note

Suresh Raina – 0

The Gujarat Lions skipper’s final appearance for the franchise ended on a disappointing note both with the bat and as a captain. With the bat, Raina could score only 2 runs before falling to Siraj’s off-cutter. Dinesh Karthik – 0

Tempted by the juicy full-toss dished out by Rashid Khan, Karthik walked back stunned as he only managed to drag that delivery straight into hands of Hooda in the deep and score a golden duck.

Aaron Finch – 0

Batting in an unfamiliar middle order role for the Gujarat Lions, Finch has made handy contributions with the bat for the franchise on several occasions. But it was just not to be today.

When an experienced campaigner like him should have ideally stuck around and tried to ensure there was no further damage, Finch instead went for an ill-advised slog sweep, only to see his middle stump rocked back.

James Faulkner – 0

With all that all-round prowess of his, Faulkner has been quite an underperformer for Gujarat Lions this season. He marked another poor outing today, scoring only 8 runs and conceding 24 in his 2 overs.Pradeep Sangwan – 0

Sangwan was one of the six Lions batsmen who were dismissed bowled. He scored a golden duck with the bat and went wicketless in his 4 overs, conceding 37 runs.Ankit Soni – 0

Ankit Soni scored a 6-ball duck with the bat and conceded plenty with the ball. When Warner hit the winning boundary off him, Soni had given away 31 runs in merely 2.1 overs.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad

Returning in the 13th over of the innings, Siraj accounted for the well-set Kishan and sent back Lions skipper Raina cheaply

Mohammed Siraj – 10

The young Hyderabadi pacer had a poor spell to start with, conceding 22 runs in two overs as Ishan Kishan took a particular liking to his bowling and hit him for a six and couple of fours. However, he had the last laugh as he turned it around for himself and Sunrisers in his second spell.

Returning in the 13^th over of the innings, Siraj accounted for the well-set Kishan and sent back Lions skipper Raina cheaply with a couple of off-cutters. He then cleaned up Faulkner and Sangwan off the last couple of deliveries of his final over to finish with excellent figures of 4/32.

Rashid Khan – 9

Much like Siraj, the Afghanistan leggie started unimpressively, conceding 17 runs in his first over However, he trapped Dwayne Smith plumb in front in his next over to end an 111-run opening wicket stand and gave Sunrisers their first breakthrough.

His penultimate over yielded two wickets, that of Dinesh Karthik with a juicy full-toss and Aaron Finch with a googly that turned into middle stump from outside off. The duo of Siraj and Rashid running through the middle order turned the match on its head after the Lions’ dominant start.

David Warner – 8

The leading run-getter of this season with over 600 runs, skipper David Warner has shouldered the bulk of Sunrisers’ batting responsibility over the years with Dhawan for company. Today, Warner found an ally in Vijay Shankar.

The pair of Warner and Shankar stuck to percentage cricket and went about the business of finishing the game without unnecessary bravado. The Aussie left-hander scored an unbeaten 69, securing an easy 8-wicket victory for his team and leading his team into the playoffs.Vijay Shankar – 8

With the early loss of Dhawan and Henriques, Sunrisers just needed someone to bat around Warner so as to not risk exposing their middle order, particularly in the absence of Yuvraj.

Given more responsibility with the bat today, Vijay Shankar played that part perfectly with a sensible display. Shankar contributed 63 in his unbeaten 133-run partnership with Warner for the third wicket.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 6

Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave away 11 runs in the opening over of the game that set the tone for Gujarat Lions’ dominance in the first half of their innings. Though not as impressive overall by his lofty standards, the Purple cap holder returned at the death and conceded only 7 in 1.2 overs, going through Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel’s defence with his in-swing.

Shikhar Dhawan – 4

Second on the list of top run-getters this season, Dhawan’s consistent starts this season have been a key factor in Sunrisers’ run this season. He started his innings with a boundary off Praveen Kumar, using his wrists to turn a straight delivery to the fine-leg boundary, hit Pradeep Sangwan for 3 consecutive fours and raced away to 18.

However, just when it was expected he would make another start count, one shot too many brought his fall. An attempt to hit Praveen Kumar over midwicket only ended up in the hands of Faulkner, as the bowler had cleverly taken pace off the ball.Mohammad Nabi – 4

Nabi was not required to wield his willow but bowled tidily in the middle overs and finished with economical figures of 0/17 in his 3 overs.

Siddarth Kaul – 4

Kaul was yet another Sunrisers bowler who bowled a poor opening spell before making significant recovery at the death. Quite impressively, though Kaul conceded 24 in his first 2 overs, he was able to finish with figures of 1/30 in his 4 overs. The wicket of Ankit Soni with a yorker was his only scalp in the day.

Moises Henriques – 0

The Aussie all-rounder had a forgettable day on the field and did not contribute to Sunrisers triumph. He delivered a solitary over and conceded 12 runs in it. With the bat, he flicked his first ball for a boundary but didn’t last long, edging Praveen Kumar to the keeper off the very next ball.

Naman Ojha – N/A

Ojha did not bat and the catch of Ishan Kishan was his only involvement in the game.

Deepak Hooda – N/A

Though Hooda made his way back into the team in place of the injured Yuvraj Singh, he neither batted nor bowled in the match.