IPL 2017: Gujarat Lions vs Rising Pune Supergiant, 5 Talking Points
The table toppers of the previous season, Gujarat Lions opened their account as they achieved their first win of the season against Rising Pune Supergiant. On the other hand, the visitors suffered their third loss on the trot.
Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, GL got an early wicket in the very first over but the partnership between Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi provided stability to RPS innings. They looked like getting to a big score but the GL bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals to keep a check on the scoring.
Andrew Tye, who was playing his first game in IPL, picked up 5 wickets that included a hattrick in the last over. RPS ended with 171/8 in their 20 overs, a total that was going to be tough to defend against the strong batting line-up of GL.
In reply, GL got off to a quickfire start as openers Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith brought the advantage to their side with a stand of 94 runs. Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch then carried on the momentum and took them past the line with two overs still to go as they won by 7 wickets.
Here are the 5 highlights from the game that made the talking points:
#1 Andrew Tye inflicted second hattrick of the day
In an incredible turn of events, two hattricks took place on the same day. First, it was Samuel Badree who achieved the feat in the earlier game for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians. Andrew Tye backed it up with another one for the Lions and that too on his debut in IPL.
Playing his first game for GL, he made a superb start and bagged the important wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Ben Stokes, who were looking dangerous. Those two wickets pegged RPS back and halted their progress.
But the blockbuster arrived in the dying stages of the innings when he was called in to bowl the last over. He removed Ankit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Shardul Thakur in three consecutive deliveries to complete the hattrick as well as his five-wicket haul. He ended with figures of 17/5 and contributed the 16th hattrick in the IPL history.