IPL 2017: Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Lions, 5 Talking Points

Mumbai Indians are now on top of the table

Putting an end to the Gujarat Lions’ unbeaten head-to-head record against them, Mumbai Indians won the toss and chased down the score with ease and they scripted a 6-wicket victory over the former.

Earlier, Gujarat Lions rode on fluent knocks from McCullum (64 from 44 balls) and Karthik (48 from 26 balls) to pose a target of 177, which would eventually prove to be insufficient against the home side. Mumbai Indians lead the table with 4 wins from their 5 games, while Gujarat Lions are at the bottom, having won only one of their 4 games.

Here are the five major talking points from the game:

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#1 Slow start hampers Lions’ charge

Put in to bat first, Gujarat Lions lost Dwayne Smith cheaply off just the second ball of the match. Thereafter, the duo of Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina came together in an 80 run partnership for the second wicket, dominated by the former.

Runs were hard to come by and the Lions managed to score only 31 in their first five overs, until McCullum broke the shackles with couple of sixes against Malinga in the final over of the powerplay. McCullum’s innings continued to flourish but Raina was in a struggle of his own, unable to find timing on his shots.

He eventually perished for a painstaking 28(29). Repeatedly charging down to the spinners without success, Raina tried one too many and ended up slicing a widish delivery into the hands of Rohit Sharma at cover point. For Harbhajan, this was a record 5^th time that he had dismissed his one time India teammate.