Gujarat Lions managed to pick their first points of IPL 2017, defeating Rising Pune Supergiant in Rajkot on Friday by seven wickets. It was an all-round performance from the Gujarat Lions players, which helped them emerge victorious in an impressive manner.
After Andre Tye's five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick in his IPL debut, GL openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum tore apart RPS bowlers initially, and Suresh Raina-Aaron Finch partnership saw them home with two overs to spare.
RPS had posted a good total of 171 runs in their 20 overs, but with the likes of Smith and McCullum opening the innings, there was a serious need for the visitors to take early wickets. But, things did not go according to plan as Smith and McCullum were in dangerous mood, taking the attack to the RPS bolwers, who looked helpless.
The duo just had one thing in their mind, and that was to attack at all costs, and provide their team with a flying start. They hit quality fours and sixes in the opening six overs, and had 61 runs on the board at the end of the sixth over.
Smith (47, 30b, 8x4, 1x6) and McCullum ( 49, 32b, 5x4, 3x6) did not end there and even the brilliant Imran Tahir was dealt dangerously. The South African went for 35 runs in his first two overs. Shardul Thakur finally managed to break the partnership in the ninth over when the GL score read 94 runs.
Smith, before being caught in the deep, had provided the base for the middle order to secure victory. Eight runs after, the New Zealander also lost his wicket, and just a few minutes later Dinesh Karthik failed to impress, and was in the dugout too.
With Finch (33, 19b, 3x4, 2x6) and Raina (35, 22b, 4x4, 1x6) in the middle, the duo was not troubled by the RPS bowlers, as they scored their runs in boundaries, and the Australian reached the traget with two lusty blows in the 18th over.
Earlier, in the first innings of the match, RPS, who had dropped Mayank Agarwal, started their innings with Rahul Tripathi and Ajinkya Rahane, but they suffered a disastrous start. Rahane did not even open his account. The opener was back in the dugout as Suresh Raina took a screamer at first slip to bring Smith in the middle.
The Australian looked in ominous touch as he started to time the ball to perfection and was dealing in boundaries. It was not only Smith, but also Tripathi, who was taking the attack to the Gujarat Lions bowlers, and the right-hander also played some stylish shots to provide a perfect start at the top of the order.
Tye, in first ever IPL match, managed to dismiss Tripathi ( 33, 17b, 3x4, 2x6) . However that did not stop the captain from scoring runs as he was leading from the front, but Smith (43, 28b, 6x4, 1x6) was sent back to the dugout as he lost his wicket to Dwayne Smith in the tenth over.
With Stokes in good form, and new man Manoj Tiwary (31, 27b, 2x4, 1x6) in the middle, RPS reached 100 runs in the 11th over. However, GL bowled well in the middle overs and pressurised the RPS batsmen. Tye, thus, disturbed Stokes' wickets to pick his second of the night.
There was loud roar as MS Dhoni walked into the middle, and there was pressure on the former RPS skipper to deliver with the bat. Dhoni failed in his fourth straight IPL 2017 innings, scoring only five runs before being trapped leg before by Jadeja.
Tiwary and Ankit Sharma were involved in some good partnership, and the duo carried their total post 165 runs, but they, along with Thakur, were part of Tye's hat-trick in the final over of the match. RPS managed 171 runs from their 20 overs, which did not prove to be enough as RPS lost their third match of IPL 2017.
RPS: 171/8 in 20 overs
GL: 172/3 in 18 overs
Result: GL won by seven wickets.
Gujarat Lions: Praveen Kumar 4-0-51-0; Basil Thampy 3-0-21-0; Shadab Jakati 2-0-22-0.Andrew Tye 4-0-17-5; Jadeja 4-0-40-1; Dwayne Smith 2-0-10-0; Suresh Raina 1-0-9-0
Bowling: RPS: Ankit Sharma 1-0-16-0; Ferguson 4-0-44-0; Shardul Thakur 3-0-14-1; Ben Stokes 3-0-18-0; Imran Tahir 4-0-53-1; RD Chahar 3-0-26-1.
RPS: 1-0, Rahane (0.3 ov), 2-64, Tripathi ( 5.5 ov), 3-89, Smith (9.2 ov), 4-106, Stokes (12.1 ov), 5-120, Dhoni, (14.2 ov), 6-167, Ankit Sharma (19.1 ov), 7-167 , Tiwary (19.2 ov), 8-167, Thakur (19.3 ov)
Gujarat Lions: 94/1, D Smith (8.5 overs); 102/2, McCullum (11.1 overs); 111/3, Dinesh Karthik (12.5 overs).
