Gujarat Lions vs Rising Pune Supergiants Match Highlights: IPL 2016 Gujarat Win by 7 wickets, Finch and Bravo help Gujarat Clinch their Second victory
Stars of the Match:
Man of the Match Award: Aaron Finch 50 (36), Gujarat Lions
Maximum Six Award: Faf Du Plessis (RPS)
Top Fielder of the day: RP Singh (RPS)
GL VS RPS Match Highlights
Sixth match of the Indian Premier League 2016 was played between Gujarat Lions(GL) and Rising Pune Supergiants(RPS) at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. MS Dhoni won the toss and RPS decided to bat first. Supergiants were unchanged but Gujarat Lions made three changes with Pravin Tambe, Shadab Jakati and Akshdeep Nath coming into the side. Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis opened the batting for RPS and the former was looking comfortable at the crease as he struck four beautiful 4s in his small yet elegant knock of 21. IPL veteran Pravin Tambe removed the opener as he was adjudged LBW. Kevin Pietersen arrived at the crease after the departure of Rahane and they added up 86 runs. The pair batted sensibly as they picked up ones and twos and hit the loose balls to the boundary. Faf du Plessis reached his fifty in 33 balls as the partnership continued to blossom.
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Dwayne Bravo broke the 86-run partnership as he castled Kevin Pietersen for 37. Bravo’s dipping slower ball did the trick as KP got an inside edge and the ball went on to hit the stumps. Steven Smith walked in at number 4 but soon Faf du Plessis departed after making 69. Tambe got his second wicket as Dinesh Karthik whipped off the bails in a flash. Fourth wicket fell in the next over as Steven Smith(5) gave an easy catch to James Faulkner off Ravindra Jadeja. RPS lost their way at the end as Jadeja knocked off Mitchell Marsh for 7. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 22 as he struck one 6 and two 4s. RPS finished on 163/5 in their 20 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja was the most successful bowler with figures of 2/18 in his 4 overs while Faf du Plessis top-scored with 69 off 43 balls. Tambe finished with 2 wickets for 33 runs.
Chasing a decent total of 164, Gujarat Lions got a good start as Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch played their shots and took advantage of the field restrictions. They scored 62 in the first six overs and gave their side a blistering start. It was Aaron Finch and not Brendon McCullum who was playing some delightful shots as Dhoni failed to find a bowler who could get him a wicket.
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Finch continued his good form and completed his second fifty in 33 balls. But just after that, gave a simple catch to Ishant Sharma off Murugan Ashwin. Suresh Raina came in number 3 and he along with McCullum added 35 runs before McCullum(49) was caught by Faf du Plessis off Ishant Sharma.
RPS needed more wickets at this moment but Raina and Bravo made sure they rotated the strike well. Bravo hit Ishant Sharma for three consecutive fours in the 16th over which made things simpler for Gujarat Lions. But Raina(24) threw away his wicket as he danced down the track on the bowling of Murugan Ashwin only to get stumped.
Dwayne Bravo(22) and Ravindra Jadeja(4) finished things for Gujarat Lions as they secured a 7-wicket comfortable win. It was a disappointing night for Rising Pune Supergiants as they failed to play to their potential. Murugan Ashwin finished with 2/31 in his 4 overs while Ravichandran Ashwin, RP Singh went wicket-less.