Dwayne Smith, Man of the Match: "I enjoy opening, especially with Baz. I hope we can continue doing that. It was great to see Baz take the mantle. I just had to sit back. The boys are really up for it".
Suresh Raina: "Close win. Baz and Smith did the damage in first six overs. Jimmy had a good birthday tonight. When you have a target in mind, you can attack the first six overs. It is working for us. Captaincy has been good. Learnt a lot from MS. I am not going to see MS tonight. He will be very, very upset. I'll see him later".
MS DHONI: "First six overs, sixty runs, and puts a lot of pressure. I feel we need to improve our new-ball bowling. We should crack the code. Otherwise, we will be at the receiving end. Injuries are beyond control. Still, more than the batting, the bowling has struggled. We have tried five-bowler combinations, six-bowler combinations. It is not happening for us. I like it when there is not a lot of break between matches. We have to sort out a few things. Otherwise, we will keep losing."
That was so close to the man at short mid-off, and had he latched on to it, we would have had a tie. In the end, the finisher, Faulkner, finishes things for Gujarat as they complete their 5th successive run-chase. GUJARAT LIONS WIN by 3 wickets!
19.6 Thisara Perera to James Faulkner, 1 run, GAME SET MATCH, backs away and smashes a length ball to wide of mid-on who was in very thought. Gujarat win, Pune cannot win those vital moments yet!
19.5 Thisara Perera to James Faulkner, 2 runs, backs away and plays it to Rahane at long-off, who fires in wide throw. A god throw was expected off Rahane, but it was wide, so wide that Dhoni had to walk across the crease to collect the ball. Is this the game here? 1 run needed.
19.4 Thisara Perera to Ishan Kishan, OUT, RUN OUT, Ishan cannot get in with his dive, Oh Pune, Oh Gujarat, what is up to to you people! Well, Kishan goes for a first ball duck! What a turnaround for Pune! Saurabh Tiwary finally gets to be in the game. What a run-out.
19.3 Thisara Perera to Suresh Raina, BOWLED. OUT, a yorker on off stump, Raina wanted to sweep, gets the inside edge and goes back on to the stumps. Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Pune? We're not done here yet! BIG wicket here as Raina tires to play across the line and chops the ball onto his stumps. Are Pune still in with a sniff of a chance?
19.1 Thisara Perera to James Faulkner, FOUR, all he bowls is full toss on the pads, Faulkner loves it there, he plays it to deep square leg. Is this the game here? Nice juicy full toss on the pads, and Faulkner creams it towards deep square leg. Very poor ball!
18.5 Ashoke Dinda to Suresh Raina, FOUR, backs away and Dinda follows him, bowls too much down the leg side, gets some glove to it and goes to fine leg boundary. Dhoni is down on the ground and is shaking his head, as he couldn't stop the ball, as it was very wide of him. The ball was very wide of leg stump, and understandably so, as Raina was backing away. All the left-hander had to do was to get something to it, which he did!
18.3 Ashoke Dinda to Ravindra Jadeja, OUT, RUN OUT, full ball between the legs which Jadeja misses, and runs across for some reason. Massive misunderstanding there. Jadeja sprinted off, while Raina remained rooted in his crease. Dhoni collected the ball, sprinted through towards the stumps, waited for Jadeja to turn around and look at the stumps, and then gently whipped the bails off.
18.2 Ashoke Dinda to Dwayne Bravo, OUT, full and wide again, Bravo this time cannot get it thorough, an outside edge and Dhoni pouches it behind. Well, well, well, what has Bravo done? He went after another wide ball, and edged it behind to the keeper. The crowd is ecstatic. Are Pune still in this?
18.1 Ashoke Dinda to Dwayne Bravo, FOUR, full and wide and Bravo somehow reaches it and places it in the gap behind point. Had Bravo left it alone, it would have been a wide. But Bravo saw an opportunity there as the men were inside the ring on the off side and just poked his bat to it.
