The Kings XI Punjab played some brilliant all-round cricket to beat Gujarat Lions in Rajkot on Sunday. This victory was made possible with Glenn Maxwell and in-form Hashim Amla playing a good role with the bat. Axar Patel also delivered with his all-round skills to pick their third win of IPL 2017.
But, earlier in the day, things had not started on a good note for KXIP. Manan Vohra fell in the second over of the match.That did not deter Amla to play his shots. The right-hander alongside Shaun Marsh began to dominate proceedings, as they were involved in a strong partnership of 70 runs before the Australian was out.
With Kings XI Punjab going at nine runs per over, they were looking for a good total, and Amla was making life miserable for GL. The South African was dealing in boundaries. Maxwell was also enjoying himself at the other end.
Maxwell made his intentions known, going for the big shots in the first few balls. The skipper was dealing in sixes, using his power and muscles to score some quick runs.
However, the KXIP were dealt double blow as Amla (65, 40b, 9x4 2x6) and Maxwell (31, 18b, 1x4, 3x6)were out in a span of three balls, which brought Patel and Marcus Stonis at the middle. The left-hander was looking dangerous, playing the ball straight down the ground for boundaries, scoring his runs at a brisk rate.
Though Patel was batting nicely, Stoinis was not able to get going, and was dismissed for seven runs only.
The onus was on Patel to finish the first innings on a high with two overs remaining. Patel (34, 17b, 3x4, 2x6) struck two sixes and one four before being out. His innings played an important role in helping KXIP score 188 runs.
Scoring at around nine runs per over was always going to be challenging and GL, like KXIP, suffered a worst possible start with Brendon McCullum getting out in the first over of the second innings. They were looking at McCullum to provide a perfect base for the rest of the batsmen to follow, but it was not to be, hence they had to depend on skipper Suresh Raina.
The left-hander looked in good touch, right from the time he walked onto the crease. Raina (32, 24b, 4x4) along with Aaron Finch built a good partnership, but the Australian was back in the dug out in the sixth over. They scored 50 runs for two wickets in Powerplay.
Despite going at a good rate, the required rate was on the rise. With Raina and Dinesh Karthik at the batting crease, this partnership was crucial for the Lions. However, it did not go according to plan for Raina, who was out in the ninth over.
Karthik was going at a decent rate. No one was supporting at the other end and the required rate was always increasing with Ravindra Jadeja out for nine runs, followed by Dwayne Smith, who once again failed with the bat as Patel picked up his second wicket of the match.
Despite some strong effort from Karthik, who scored remained unbeaten on 58 , they fell short by 26 runs. With this, Gujarat Lions have lost five games in IPL 2017.
Gujarat Lions vs Kings XI Punjab IPL 2017 scorecard:
Toss: GL won the toss and chose to bowl.
KXIP: 188/7 in 20 overs.
Gujarat Lions:162/7 in 20 overs.
Result: KXIP won by 26 runs
Bowling: Gujarat Lions: Shubham Agarwal 4-0-42-1; Nathu Singh 2-0-7-1: Suresh Raina 1-0-6-0: Basil Thampi 4-044-0; Andrew Tye 4-0-35-2; Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-32-1; Dwayne Smith 1-0-18-1.
KXIP: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-40-2; Mohit Sharma 4-0-25-1; N Natarajan 3-0-22-0; KC Cariappa 4-0-24-2; Axar Patel 4-0-36-2; Marcus Stoinis 1-0-12-0.
Fall of wickets:KXIP: 1-11, Vohra (1.2 ov), 2-81, Marsh (9.2 ov), 3-128, Amla (13.6 ov), 4-132, Maxwell, (14.2 ov), 5-157, Stoinis (17.5 ov), 6-174, Patel (18.4 ov), 7-188, Saha (19.6 ov)
Gujarat Lions: 1-6, McCullum (0.6 ov), 2-46, Finch (5.4 ov), 3-70, Raina (8.6 ov) 4-95, Jadeja (11.6 ov) 5-102, Smith (12.6), 6-102, Nath (13.1 ov), 7-137, Tye (16,4 ov)
