IPL 9 Match 25 Review: Lions squeeze out a last ball win in a high scoring chase

Gujarat Lions solidified its position at the top of the points table after they comprehensively defeated Rising Pune Supergiants by 3 wickets at the MCA Stadium, Pune. Gujarat Lions, who chose to field, after winning the toss, chased down the formidable 196 run target with the help of brutal knocks from their openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum. Their onslaught was topped off by Suresh Raina and Dinesh Kartik who gave the finishing touches after the duo departed.

Batting first, Rising Pune Supergiants put up a formidable 195/3 riding on the Steven Smith’s maiden IPL century. MS Dhoni’s idea to send his state mate Saurabh Tiwary to open the innings with Ajinkya Rahane turned out to be a bad one as the burly left-hander lost his wicket cheaply. The early setback was, however, amended by the Rahane and Steve Smith who weaved a 111 run for the 2nd wicket.

Smith switched on the aggression soon as he arrived at the crease. Rahane, at the other end, played his natural game and helped the run rate with occasional boundaries. The pair continued to flourish till the 14th over before Rahane lost his wicket just after completely his half-century in the previously over. It was a big mix-up between Smith and Rahane. The former was run out at the non-strikers end by the agile Bravo while attempting to steal a quick single.

This looked as the only way to put a brake on the duo who were cruising effortlessly. The only notable chance of breaking the partnership came in the 9th over of the match where debutant left-arm chinaman Shivil Kaushik, clean bowled Smith off a no-ball.

But, the breakthrough did not have any great impact on the RPSG as MS Dhoni then partnered with Smith to take the innings forward. It was now aggression from both the side as both began to accelerate the run rate.

Smith finally reached his century with a boundary off the first ball in the last over. Unfortunately, the Aussie skipper could not carry his bat to the dugout as Bravo knocked off his timber off the very next delivery. Dhoni, eventually, wrapped the first innings in style as he drilled a four off the last delivery.

The target was stiff, but Lions openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum launched a brutal attack on the opposition. After a calm couple of over at the start, McCullum blasted off 24 runs in the 3rd over by Albie Morkel. The onslaught was kick started after Smith also began flashing at the ball aggressively. The impact of their batting was such that Lions raced to 72 after the first powerplay. The pair batted in the same vein before The military medium seam bowling of Rajat Bhatia broke the blazing partnership.

McCullum failed to read a cutter from Bhatia and top edged it straight to fine leg to being his downfall. An over later Perera got better of Smith with a yorker. The Pune side looked to be getting back into the match.

But, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Kartik then stabilized the chased and took Lions close to the target. The pair paired for a crucial 51 run stand before they were separated in the 17th over by Dinda. The match , which was totally I favor of the visitors, received a twist in the death overs. The match had come down to 20 runs from the last 12 balls. However, the penultimate over by Dinda saw Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo getting dismissed, adding tang to the game. But the over still cost RPS 11 runs which boiled down to the equation to 9 from the final over.

The final over also had drama waiting to happen. Thisara Perera, after being hit for a four off the first ball, got better of Raina couple of balls later. Ishan Kishan getting run out off the following ball added more excitement to the match. But, birthday boy James Faulkner ensured that there were no more nervous moment for his side as he squeezed the 3 required off three to seal off the match with a last-ball win.

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