Gujarat Lions ended up on the winning side against Kings XI Punjab in a high scoring game. Punjab's chances of qualifying for the playoffs suffered a huge blow tonight as the already eliminated Lions secured a respectable victory which was anchored by a powerful yet lucky inning by Dwayne Smith.
Chasing 190 after Hashim Amla scored his second a century, Dwayne Smith scored a quickfire 74 but was dropped two times before eventually getting out to Glenn Maxwell. Dinesh Karthik played a brilliant knock at the end to help Gujarat get over the line without any fuss. The game was also marred by some controversial moments between the umpire and Kings XI Punjab which turned out to be a crucial incident in the buildup to Gujarat's successful run chase.
The context
Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to bowl first knowing the fact that the Lions have failed to defend a total in any of the matches this season. They picked up the wicket of Martin Guptill cheaply but a hundred run partnership between Shaun Marsh and Hashim Amla saw the momentum change in favour of Punjab.
Marsh scored an half-century but failed to hit the ball as sweetly as we are used to from his batting with the South Australian failing to get going quickly.
Amla was a one man army for the Kings as he single-handedly thrashed opposition bowlers to fours and sixes. He brought up his second hundred in fine fashion in the final over. As luck would have it, both of Amla's centuries this season have come in a lost cause as last night’s classy knock from the South African was not enough for Punjab to seal a win.
The turning point
Just before the strategic time out, Sandeep Sharma was bowling while Ishan Kishan and Dwayne Smith were the batsmen for the Lions. All was going well for Punjab as Sharma was bowling a tight over until the fateful scene. But a fiasco happened soon between the bowler and the umpire which derailed Punjab's momentum and turned the game on its head.
Sharma came round the wicket to bowl against Kishan and bowled a full delivery which went for just a single. But the umpire gave the delivery a no ball as the bowler did not inform him about the change of guard. Sharma was frustrated with the umpire as the Punjab unit felt that it was the umpire's fault as it was him who did not tell Smith to change ends.
Sharma angrily took his cap from the umpire after the end of the over and had some unkind words for the match official. Glenn Maxwell was also shocked at the decision and got involved in the argument. It was surprising to see Maxwell so animated on the field as he was finding it hard to fathom the umpire's decision.
It was all going well until that incident as after the time out, Maxwell brought himself to bowl, a decision which did not prove to be a success. The Kings lost their way midway and never recovered. They were also shambolic on the field as Smith was given a lifeline on two occasions by David Miller and Gurkeerat Mann.
In a must win game, Punjab's momentum took a huge hit after the altercation between the players and the umpire. It was after that fiasco, the misfields transpired, catches were dropped and needless runs through overthrows were presented which made it easy for Gujarat to reach the target without much trouble. This makes the fiasco between Sandeep Sharma, Glenn Maxwell and the umpire - the SK turning point of the match.
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