Aaron Finch, Dwayne Bravo Steer Gujarat Lions to Maiden IPL Win

By: Tarish Bhatt

After Rising Pune Supergiants, Gujarat Lions showed that the newcomers are a force to reckon with in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League.

The Suresh Raina-led Gujarat outfit registered a comfortable five-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, with 14 balls to spare.

It was an allround performance from the Lions, who after restricting the Kings to 161, chased down the target without much hassle.

Opener Aaron Finch scored a scorching half-century, while Dinesh Karthik made an unbeaten 26-ball 41 and held the innings together.

Punjab managed to make inroad late in the match by dismissing Finch and Ravindra Jadeja, but it was a touch too late as Karthik held one end firmly.

Earlier, Gujarat asked Punjab to bat first, and the home team got off to a solid start with Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra, who added 78 runs for the first wicket.

But, once Vohra was dismissed, and later Vijay, the Kings lost their way and ended up atleast 20-25 runs short. Their target barely threatened the Lions.

Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo, in particular, were the standout bowlers for the visitors. The latter, meanwhile, also become the first bowler to take 300 wickets in T20s.

Bravo finished with four wickets, while Jadeja took two. The West Indian could have completed a fifer, but Axar Patel was dropped on the final ball of the innings.