Gujarat Lions Hand Rising Pune Supergiants Shocking Defeat

By: Tarish Bhatt

When you have the likes of Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum in the side, no target is big enough, as a rollicking start from them ensured an easy win for Gujarat Lions.

Chasing 164, the Lions defeated Rising Pune Supergiants by seven wickets, with two overs to spare, and registered their second successive win the competition.

McCullum and Finch stitched a 85-run partnership in just 50 balls to put the hosts on a winning track. Later, Suresh Raina and Bravo finished off the job in a clinical way.

Finch made a half-century, but McCullum missed his fifty in a bid to hit Ishant Sharma for a maximum. But, his wicket came a touch late as the game had already drifted away from the visitors.

Earlier, after electing to bat first, the Supergiants were on course of a massive total, but their innings lost momentum in the later part of the innings.

Captain MS Dhoni did tried his best by making an unbeaten 10-ball 22, but his effort went in vain as the Supergiants clearly ended up 20-25 runs short. Dhoni, however, finished the innings in his trademark style by scoring 20 off Bravo’s last over.

The Supergiants were off to a flying start with Ajinkya Rahane, and after his departure, Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis carried to innings ahead.

But, after the departure of Pietersen, the Supergiants soon lost du Plessis as well, and the visitors were never able to gain momentum after that.

Ravindra Jadeja bowled brilliantly in the death overs, and gave away nothing to knot the opposition. He finished with two wickets, while conceding just 18 runs.