IPL 2017, RPS vs GL: SK Player of the Match, Andrew Tye for his sensational hat-trick

Andrew Tye’s sensational spell of 5/17 helped Gujarat Lions register their first win of the tournament

The Gujarat Lions registered their first win of the IPL after defeating the Rising Pune Supergiant by seven wickets at Rajkot. The victory took the Gujarat Lions to seventh place in the table, above the Supergiant who are currently rock-bottom.

There were a number of brilliant performances throughout the match but one performance that stands out from the rest is Andrew Tye’s sensational spell. Tye was included in the team in place of Jason Roy and that decision paid off really well.

Tye’s magic restricts RPS

Gujarat Lions had won the toss and elected to field first. They got the key wicket of Ajinkya Rahane on only the third ball of the match after Suresh Raina took a blinder of a catch off Praveen Kumar’s bowling.

However, the Supergiant recovered brilliantly as skipper Steve Smith, along with Rajat Tripathi, began to smash the Gujarat Lions and took their total to 64 within the powerplay. At this point, Tye was brought in and he delivered in his very first over by dismissing Tripathi, who lofted a short delivery towards mid-off only for Aaron Finch to take the catch.

In his next over, Tye took his second wicket in the form of Ben Stokes and conceded only seven runs from his first two overs. After going wicket less in his third over, he came back for the last over of RPS inings with the scoreline at that point being 167/5.

On the first ball, Tye dismissed Ankit Sharma, which was followed by the dismissal of Manoj Tiwary on the very next delivery. He completed his hat-trick by bowling out Shardul Thakur through a brilliant yorker, thus becoming the first bowler to take a hat-trick on IPL debut.

It was also the second hat-trick of the day with Samuel Badree taking a hat-trick against the Mumbai Indians. RPS ended their innings at 171/8 and Tye returned with figures of 5/17 from his four overs.

Smith and McCullum’s fiery start to the run-chase

Smith and McCullum gave GL the perfect start to their run chase

Gujarat Lions began their run chase brilliantly with openers Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith (who was opening for the first time in the tournament) batting aggressively from the start. The two built a partnership of 94 from 53 deliveries before Shardul Thakur dismissed Dwayne Smith for 47 from 30 balls, hitting eight fours and a six.

McCullum soon followed Smith after being dismissed by teenager Rahul Chahar for 49 from 32 deliveries, hitting five fours and three sixes. The Supergiant were looking to make a comeback when they dismissed Dinesh Karthik soon after with the Gujarat Lions at 111/3, needing 61 from the final seven overs.

Raina and Finch finish it off for GL
 

Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch finished the match with two balls to spare

However, Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch restored the momentum for the home team. The likes of Imran Tahir, Ben Stokes, and IPL debutant Lockie Ferguson were being hit for plenty as Gujarat Lions chased down the total in 18 overs, thus continuing their unbeaten streak against the Supergiant.

Tye was rightfully adjudged Man of the Match for his terrific spell. This was Gujarat Lions’ first win of the tournament and the Supergiant’s third consecutive defeat after winning their opening match against Mumbai Indians. This win took the Lions to seventh position and the Supergiant were pushed to last place.

Gujarat now take on the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede while the Supergiant take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bangalore.