Dwayne Smith is impressed with Ishan Kishan's batting

Gujarat Lions maybe out of the race for the playoffs, but they surely did not fail to entertain the fans. A team that boasts of Brendon McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Smith is very likely to entertain fans in the shortest format of the game, but this season some share of spot-light was grabbed by the 17-year-old Patna-born batsman Ishan Kishan.

Match no. 47 of the tenth edition of the IPL witnessed a high-scoring encounter between Kings XI Punjab and Gujarat Lions. Hashim Amla’s 2nd century in this year’s IPL went in vain just like the first one against table-toppers Mumbai Indians, as Gujarat Lions chased down the mammoth target of 190 with two balls to spare, thanks to Dwayne Smith’s blitzkrieg of 74 runs in just 39 balls.

While Smith decided to put his foot on the accelerator, it was the former India Under-19 captain Kishan who calmed the proceedings from the other end. His composed knock of 29 from 24 balls helped Smith play his natural game and unleash the counter-attack on the Punjab bowlers.

The youngster has done an appreciable job for his team with the bat after he was sent to open the innings. Speaking to IPLT20.com, Smith went all praises for his partner. “Kishan is a good guy for the future and we need to keep him going. I am sure he will be the one for the future,” was his well-thought opinion. He also was enthralled at his own performances. He said, “It feels really good because I had some very disappointing knocks coming into this game but for me, I am always positive and to get a good score and to help the team to win was really good. So I am really happy”.

The opportunity came in the way of Punjab as well, when Smith hit a ball high into the air, but the chance was dropped by Miller. The West Indian expressed his nervousness at that moment by saying, “It (the catch) went to Miller. He is good with catches. I was a bit worried but when he dropped it I was very happy,” he added.