Suresh Raina's Gujarat Lions cruised to a big seven-wicket win over the MS Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants in Rajkot on Thursday. Many called it a 'Chennai Super Kings derby' as a number of former CSK teammates clashed against each other in IPL 2016.
Opting to bat first, the Supergiants posted a modest total of 163 for the loss of five wickets. In reply, the Lions got over the line pretty easily with two overs to spare.
Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum got off to a flier. That laid the foundation for the remaining batsmen to come out and complete the job for the side.
The partnership between Finch and McCullum impressed Raina, as this win took them to the top of the IPL 2016 points table, after two matches.
Watch the highlights of the match here.
"Finchy and Baz (Brendon) 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. That's a lot of experienced players in the side," Raina was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
The Gujarat Lions skipper was happy with his team's effort. He also went on to laud Bravo, who has been really good for the Lions in the last two games. Ravindra Jadeja's performance with the ball has also been impressive. The Gujarat Lions have played good all-round cricket in their first two matches of IPL 2016 and thus they are on course to become a team to beat in this tournament.
"When you have Bravo and (James) Faulkner, the game is never over. It was our first game at home and we played really good cricket today. I thought we have to play three-four spinners, as it's not easy to hit sixes in this ground," Raina added.
"Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) bowled exceptionally well and (Pravin) Tambe too bowled well. (Bravo) is the main player for us."
With two wins from two matches, Raina's Gujarat Lions will be confident ahead of their next match against the defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
