In the battle between the new franchises, Suresh Raina got the better of his “mentor” MS Dhoni as the Gujarat Lions defeated the Rising Pune Supergiants by seven wickets. After having played the previous eight seasons together, the two faced off for the first time ever at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.
Faf du Plessis’ knock of 69 off 43 balls helped set the tone for a big score. However, a good bowling performance from the Lions allowed them to restrict the Pune franchise to just 163 runs. A quickfire 22 off 10 balls helped Pune reach a score of some respectability.
Aaron Finch scored his second consecutive fifty of the IPL and along with opening partner, Brendon McCullum put up a partnership of 85 for the first wicket to give the perfect tone for a successful chase of the total.
Rising Pune Supergiants captain, MS Dhoni:
“I think it was a good score but what's important is to bowl well in the first six overs. It was forced (speaking about why the legspinner was brought in the powerplay) and I don't think the fast bowlers bowled well.
“I told them quite a few things and it stays within the team. We gave away too many runs in the powerplay. We need to look at the composition. Need to look at the players who suit us the best. First game we did well but we could have played with a few other players in this game.
“But credit to the players who have done well in the first game. It's a new team and you don't have the luxury of playing some fantastic all-rounders.”
Gujarat Lions, Suresh Raina:
“When you have Bravo and Faulkner, the game is never over. First game at home and we played really good cricket today. I thought we have to play 3-4 spinners but its not easy to hit sixes in this ground.
“Jaddu bowled exceptionally well and Tambe too bowled well.(Bravo) is the main player for us. We have to give chance to everyone. Finchy and Baz set the tone for us. When you have a start like that we always do well in the middle overs. We have Baz, Bravo and Finch - Lot of experienced players in the side.”
Man-of-the-match, Aaron Finch:
“Nice to start off well and contribute to the wins. Was a beautiful wicket out there. Started off scratchy and got a bit lucky in the middle. Nice to bat with Baz. He scores so fast and takes the pressure off. He is a special player. For some one to run down the wicket and smash a few off the back foot, it takes some skill.
“Very big game and Pune are a very strong side led by a great leader MS. If we can get some more wickets in the first six overs it will be nice. Jaddu, Bravo and Faulkner were outstanding in the middle overs. The bowlers did well towards the end again, pulled things back in our favour.”
Indian commentator, Aakash Chopra:
Former Indian cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar:
Former Australian batsman, Matthew Hayden:
Former Australian bowler, Jason Gillespie:
Indian commentator, Harsha Bhogle:
Former England women's cricketer, Isa Guha:
Former Australian women's cricketer, Lisa Sthalekar:
Royal Challengers Bangalore batting and fielding coach, Trent Woodhill:
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