IPL 9, Match 9 Review: Gujarat Lions sneak past MI in a galvanizing contest

Gujarat Lions continued its winning momentum in the IPL after they beat Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Opener Aaron Finch (61 from 52 balls) smashed his third consecutive half-century of the tournament to guide his team to a supreme victory.

The thrilling match went down to the last ball of the match as the momentum kept shifting between both the team. The Mumbai Indians, batting first, set a decent target of 144 runs for the Lions to chase with the help of some combined batting efforts.

In reply, the Lions side led by Aaron Finch continued to dominate most part of the chase. However, Mumbai Indians pulled back wonderfully to give a thrilling twist to the match. But, Finch, despite being troubled by a hamstring problem, stood till the last ball and hit the winning runs to ensure a 3 out of 3 clean sheet for the Lions.

Suresh Raina’s decision to field first after winning the toss seemed to be a logical one as the chasing team has always fared better that the one batting first. His decision paid off well as his bowlers put in a wonderful collective effort to restrict Mumbai Indians for a functional 143/8 after 20 overs.

Seamer Dhawal Kulkarni snapped up two important wickets at the start things positively for the Lions. Rohit Sharma, who played a match-winning knock in Kolkata, could not repeat his heroics as he was dismissed for just 7 runs in the 2nd over. Kulkarni came back in his following over to unpick Hardik Pandya. Mumbai continued experimenting by sending Pandya up the order at No. 3. But, the hard-hitting all-rounder failed to do anything significant today as well.

Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler then took the innings forward at a brisk pace. But, the Lions bowler maintained a tight grip on the proceedings. As the game progressed to its halfway stage, the MI Paltan further began to crumble.

Raina introduced spinners into the attack just after the powerplay got over. Shadab Jakati, who was brought in the 7th over, tasted his first success of the day after he managed to fox Jos Buttler and got him stumped behind.

An over later, leg-spinner Pravin Tambe was introduced who picked up the wicket of Kieron Pollard off the first ball of his spell. Patel also departed shortly, leaving the MI side tottering at 77/5. Ambati Rayudu (20 from 19 balls) did some damage control but his sluggish effort does not seem to be enough.

Debutant all-rounder Krunal Pandya, elder brother to the sensational Hardik Pandya along with New Zealand swing master Tim Southee brought some respite as the duo stitched an invaluable 42 run stand for the 8th wicket which propelled the Mumbai Indians total to a respectable 143/8 after 20 overs.

This total, however, was not enough to stop the Gujarat Lions from winning the game.

Gujarat Lions, just like their opposition, lost an early wicket. After getting off the mark with a six in the first over, the in-form Brendon McCullum lost his wicket in the following over to Jasprit Bumrah. But, Finch and Raina then took over the procession and carried forward the innings with measure, batting without taking much risk.

However, that didn’t mean the boundaries had dried up; both the batsman punished the loose deliveries and the ball kept getting deposited to the fence regularly. Both continued in the same fashion and weaved a 53 run stand before skipper Raina lost his wicket in the 9th over.

The match from here on began to tilt towards MI as Lions lost a Dinesh Kartik and Dwayne Bravo in back to back overs. Krunal Pandya, with his left arm spin, tasted his first success in the IPL after he snapped up Dinesh Kartik. Bravo lost his wicket after he was caught behind off Jasprit Bumrah.

Young man Akshdeep Nath then partnered Finch for a brief time before Mitchell McClenaghan added spice in the climax. The Kiwi left-arm seamer first made the Nath depart in the 17th over and then came back in the penultimate over to dismiss James Faulkner and Praveen Kumar in the space of 3 balls. The home crowd was back in action roaring in support of MI.

The equation boiled down to 11 runs off the last over which India’s death over specialist Bumrah was supposed to bowl. Finch, struggling with the pain in his legs, gathered a double and single to give the strike to Dhawal Kulkarni.

Kulkarni took the opposition by surprise by smashing Bumrah’s over-pitched delivery over the extra cover for a boundary, easing the nerves in the Gujarat Lions dugout. Kulkarni pushed a low full toss for a single to give back the strike to Finch for the last two balls. The Australian stole another double and then pulled one for a boundary off the last ball to seal the deal for Lions.

Brief Scores:

Mumbai Indians: 143/8 in 20 overs (Parthiv Patel 34; Pravin Tambe 2/12)

Gujarat Lions: 147/7 in 20 overs (Aaron Finch 67; Mitchell McClenaghan 4/21)

Man of the Match: Aaron Finch

How did Twitter react to GL’s win? – Twitter Reactions: Roaring Gujarat Lions make it 3-0