IPL 2016 Match 38: Five turning points of Kolkata Knight Rider’s vs Gujarat Lions
Dec 23, 2018 at 11:07 AM
Gujarat Lions defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 wickets at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday night. It was a brilliant performance by Gujarat Lions bowlers to pick up 4 early wickets but KKR played well to post 158 runs. Lions batsmen made the target look easy and won the match by 5 wickets. With this, they go to the top of the points table.
Here are the five turning points of the match
- Brilliant start for Gujarat Lions in powerplay overs
Gujarat Lions won the toss and choose to field. Gujarat Lions bowlers got off to a brilliant start by picking the wickets of Gambhir, Pandey in the 3rd over who were dismissed by Praveen Kumar. In the next over an in-form batsman, Uthappa was dismissed by Kulkarni to leave Kolkata in big trouble at 21 for 3. In the 6th SuryaKumar Yadav was caught brilliantly by Suresh Raina. At the end of 6 overs, KKR were struggling at 28 for 4.
- Brilliant partnership between Yusuf Pathan and Shakib revived KKR innings
Shakib Al Hasan came to the crease at the fall of Uthappa’s wicket while Yusuf Pathan joined Shakib Al Hasan at the fall of 4th wicket struggling at 28 for 4 at the end of 6 overs. Gujarat Lions captain Suresh Raina brought the spinner in the 10th over and since that moment Yusuf Pathan took the charge and hit the spinners. Gujarat Lions spinners were not able to put pressure on these two batsmen and leaked runs. Yusuf Pathan completed his half-century off 31 balls while Shakib Al Hasan took time. From the 16th over onwards both batsmen played excellent shots which put pressure on Gujarat Lions. Both of them put on 130 runs for the 5th wicket in 14 overs. Yusuf Pathan remained not out on 63 while Shakib Al Hasan remained not out on 66 which helped Kolkata Knight Riders to post a decent total of 158 for 4.
- Good start by Lions openers
Chasing a target of 159, Gujarat Lions openers Brendon McCullum and Smith gave the team a good start. Smith looked the aggressive partner hitting boundaries while Brendon McCullum hit 2 boundaries. Before the end of power play overs Smith was dismissed playing a poor stroke for 21. At that moment Gujarat Lions were 42 for 1. Smith and McCullum were not providing good starts to the team in the previous three matches.
- Dinesh Karthik playing another good innings
Dinesh Karthik played another good innings for Gujarat Lions team. He came to the crease at the fall of second wicket at the score of 67. Dinesh Karthik attacked the KKR bowlers especially Brad Hogg who was smashed for 3 fours in his first over. He played excellent shots which made the work Gujarat Lions easy. While Suresh Raina played slowly, Karthik created pressure by hitting the boundaries at will. Suresh Raina was dismissed but Dinesh Karthik continued his excellent form by completing half century in 27 balls before getting out for 51.
- Aaron Finch cameo
Aaron Finch came to the crease in the 14th over when Gujarat Lions needed 39 runs off 36 balls. In the 15th over Finch smashed a six and four of Shakib Al Hasan bowling. In the next over too Finch smacked Piyush Chawla for 2 fours and 1 six to seal the match for Gujarat Lions team. His quick fire knock of 29 off 10 balls made sure that Gujarat Lions won the match with ease. He was run out before the winning shot hit by Ravindra Jadeja. Finch looked in great touch, hitting the middle of the bat and creating a great sound which is good signs for Lions going ahead in the tournament.