Aaron Finch's fifty and Dwayne Bravo's four-for helped Gujarat Lions get off to a winning start in the third game of the Indian Premier League 2016 by beating Kings XI Punjab. Chasing 162 on a pitch that wasn’t offering too much assistance wasn’t going to be especially difficult, under lights.
But they were able to chase such a modest total thanks the brilliance of Bravo as a 78-run opening partnership between Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra put Kings XI Punjab on top. But the West Indian all-rounder turned the game on its head by dismissing Glenn Maxwell and David Miller.
Good death bowling by Gujarat kept Punjab down to just 161. In response, despite losing Brendon McCullum for a duck, Finch was determined to make things easy for the new franchise and with the help of cameos from Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik helped them get home in the end.
Although Finch was dismissed for a 47-ball 74, Karthik’s unbeaten 41 saw them home with 14 balls left to spare.
For his match-winning innings, Finch was awarded the Man of the Match. He said: “It's nice to start the tournament well from the team's point of view. Credit to the bowlers for pulling it back. Beautiful wicket, it had enough grass on it, and the ball just skidded on under lights.
“We thought it might slow up but it didn't. You need a bit of luck in this format when you are trying to go hard at the top of the order. Very happy to be here [in the GL franchise]. Great owners, and great people involved in Hodgie and Suresh."
Bowlers did a fantastic job: Raina
Gujarat Lions captain Suresh Raina: "It's a good feeling. We bowled very well - Bravo, PK, Faulkner, Jadeja. At one stage I thought they will get 200, but bowlers did a fantastic job. We do have a lot of foreign captains in our side as well as Hodgie.
“His experience came in handy. Finch batted well, wicket was very good, and credit goes to all the players. As a game plan, I was batting at No. 3. It was a very good game for us and we will look to stay positive in the next game too.”
When being asked if his team were short of the total they were looking for, David Miller admitted the the interviewer “hit the nail on the head”.
He said: “We didn't have enough on the board. 180 would have been nice. We were always on the back foot from there. And Finch's knock made it very difficult. First six overs were rushed to be honest. It's tough with the ball travelling all over the show.
“We are not aware of it [our poor home record]. It's certainly not a mental thing. It's a good wicket and a fast outfield. We love playing here, but it's just worked out that way. Still 13 games to go. It's not how you start but how you finish”.
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Some were already starting to look forward, Mark Butcher:
Anjum Chopra:
Harsha Bhogle was enjoying the quality of the batting:
There was plenty of praise for DJ Bravo's variations,: Aakash Chopra::
VVS Laxman:
Harsha Bhogle:
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