Aaron Finch smashed a 47-ball 74 in his side's successful chase © BCCI
Aaron Finch's quickfire half-century helped Indian Premier League debutants Gujarat Lions begin on a winning note as the Suresh Raina-led side beat Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets in their tournament opener in Mohali on Monday (April 11). After Dwayne Bravo's career-best of 4 for 22, Finch hammered a 47-ball 74 and Dinesh Karthik finished unbeaten on 41 off 26 deliveries as the visitors chased down the 162-run target with 14 balls to spare.
Put in to bat, the opening partnership worth 78 between Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra set Punjab on course for a big total but Ravindra Jadeja took first two of the four wickets that fell in quick succession in the middle overs, to trigger the collapse that restricted the home side to 161.
Praveen Kumar sent down a rather silent first over to start the proceedings. Vijay opened up with the first six of the game, over the midwicket fence, and a boundary through extra cover, off consecutive deliveries to end an otherwise disciplined over from Pradeep Sangwan. A beautifully-timed drive through the covers followed in the next over from Praveen, before Sangwan was hit for another couple, on either side of the wicket.
Manan Vohra, who had been a mere spectator while Vijay was driving at will, came to the party soon after - welcoming James Faulkner into the attack with an elegant drive past the mid-off fielder. Bravo, fielding at deep mid wicket, grassed a tough chance despite putting in a full-length dive, when the batsman was on 8 and the home team on 35. The drop proved costly as the local hero went on to add 30 more runs to the Punjab total in 14 deliveries.
Vijay brought up the first fifty-run partnership for Kings XI on their home ground since 2011 with a lofted drive in the long-off region and was fortunate to survive a stumping chance on the very next delivery, off the bowling of Sarabjit Ladda. Vohra, however, disturbed the leg spinner's figures with a six straight over the bowler's head and a pull to deep mid-wicket fence to pick 14 off his second over.
Vohra did not even spare Jadeja, smacking him over the deep mid wicket fence for his second maximum, but the bowler had the last laugh. The dangerous-looking stand between the duo was brought to an end when wicketkeeper Karthik caught hold of the faint edge from Vohra's bat to end his 23-ball cameo worth 38.
After a promising start, Vijay (42) fell in the following over from the Saurashtra spinner, the ball turning just enough to deceive the batsman and peg his middle stump back.
Bravo tightened the screws further with twin strikes in the space of three deliveries. Two short of becoming the first man to snap up 300 wickets in Twenty20 cricket, Bravo knocked out the middle stumps of Kings XI's danger-duo, Glenn Maxwell (2) and captain David Miller (15), in the same over and celebrated the milestone with his customary 'Champion' dance.
From a comfortable position of 78 for no loss, the home team slipped to 102 for 4 at the end of the 12th over. The Wriddhiman Saha-Marcus Stoinis partnership helped the hosts overcome the dry spell and revive the innings. The duo added 55 in 45 deliveries to keep the scorecard ticking, with Stoinis particularly going after Faulkner who gave away 39 in his four overs.
Bravo, bowling the final over, added two more to his kitty to finish with personal best figures of 4 for 22 as he had both the set batsmen caught off successive deliveries to keep a check on the hosts' late flourish.
In contrast, Lions' chase did not get off to an ideal start as Sandeep Sharma, coming in after an injury layoff, had Brendon McCullum stumped off the final delivery of the first over. Sans McCullum's fireworks at the top, not many would have given Lions the chance, but Aaron Finch stepped up with a blazing knock of 74.
Finch's two half-century stands, with Raina and Karthik, helped tip the scales in their favour. The Australian opener - playing for sixth different franchise in the IPL - did most of the talking in boundaries, hitting nine of them before bringing up his fifty in the 8th over, while captain Raina chipped in with a typical nine-ball cameo worth 20 in their 51-run alliance.
The Lions went past the 100-run mark when Finch took a couple off Sandeep Sharma at the start of the 11th over. The 65-run stand between the opener and Karthik was broken by the little-known Pradeep Sahu. A slower one from the rookie tricked the batsman, turned past his bat and Saha, behind the stumps, ensured they didn't let the opportunity slip. A visibly-disappointed Finch walked back after a match-defining 74 off 47 deliveries.
The equation was down to 26 required off as many deliveries for Gujarat to embark on their IPL journey with a victory. Even as Karthik held one end, Jadeja (8) and IPL debutant Ishan Kishan (11) departed in quick succession to trigger panic in the visitors' camp. Karthik, however, held his nerves, smashed seven boundaries in his unbeaten 41 off 26 and steer his team home eventually.
Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 161/6 in 20 overs (Murali Vijay 42, Manan Vohra 38, Marcus Stoinis 33; Dwayne Bravo 4-22, Ravindra Jadeja 2-30) lost to Gujarat Lions 162/5 in 17.4 overs (Aaron Finch 74, Dinesh Karthik 41*; Sandeep Sharma 1-21) by 5 wickets
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