Gujarat Lions 164 for 3 (Finch 50, McCullum 49, M Ashwin 2-31) beat Rising Pune Supergiants 163 for 5 (Du Plessis 69, Pietersen 37) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Aaron Finch hit his second consecutive half-century of the season to help Gujarat to an easy win © BCCI
Another one-sided encounter. Another win for the chasing team. This season’s IPL, it seems, is on repeat mode as Gujarat Lions cruised to a seven-wicket win against Rising Pune Supergiants in Rajkot. Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum effectively killed the game after pillaging 62 in the Powerplay, in the chase of 164.
MS Dhoni pulled back some momentum with a 20-run last over in the first innings, but his bowlers returned it in kind. Loose deliveries stacked up, and the Lions openers duly dispatched them. Four fours and two sixes off the seamers meant Dhoni turned to M Ashwin in the last over of the Powerplay, but Finch took the legspinner for four fours in a 19-run over. Finch then took Rajat Bhatia for two sixes over long-on in the seventh over, but holed out to square leg for 50 – his second half-century of the season. By then, though, the damage had been done.
McCullum continued to latch on to wayward bowling, as the spinners failed to extract much from the patchy surface. Supergiants’ day was summed up when Dhoni missed a routine stumping with McCullum well short of his crease.
Supergiants’ batting was a tale of two halves. Faf du Plessis and Ajinkya Rahane continued from where they left off against Mumbai Indians, using exquisite timing to plunder five fours in the first 21 balls. After Pravin Tambe trapped Rahane in front in the fourth over, Pietersen and du Plessis ensured a productive Powerplay with a host of boundaries. The pair added 30 off 13 balls to end the Powerplay at 57 for 1, with du Plessis being particularly aggressive down the ground. Even as the field spread, the boundary was found regularly as their stand stretched to 83.
But just when Supergiants looked to accelerate, Dwayne Bravo brought out his slower balls again to stall the charge. He bowled four of those in succession in the 14th over, the last of which forced Pietersen to drag on. Suddenly, one wicket brought three as the spinners found their lengths. Ravindra Jadeja, who has played most of his domestic cricket at this ground, varied his pace effectively to concede just four off the 17th and 19th overs to finish with figures of 2 for 18.
The situation may have been a lot worse had MS Dhoni not done what he does best. He took Bravo for a six, two fours and three twos in the last over to provide his team with the impetus they desperately required. In the end, it was nowhere near enough as Supergiants tasted their first defeat.
More to follow..
Nikhil Kalro is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo