Hello and welcome to the commentary of the IPL match between Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders at Kanpur.
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And that was a no-brainer in the end there. Kolkata Knight Riders never had enough by any stretch of the imagination. And Gautam Gambhir choose, bafflingly, to continue letting his seamers get pummelled even though Sunil Narine had hinted at success for spinners on this track. Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum were shown the door very early, and two more wickets were gifted mid-way. But the target was just too unformidable to deny the Lions a breeze of a victory with 39 balls and 6 wickets to spare.
Why did KKR manage such a low total to begin with? Two words. Dwayne Smith. Ok, three more. 4 for 18. Nuff said.
Now that's how you get back to winning ways. Like Lions. ROARING our way to glory! >#GameMaariChhe>#GLvKKR>pic.twitter.com/DlzWwEiRoI
— The Gujarat Lions (@TheGujaratLions) >May 19, 2016
GL 125/4 after 13.3 overs (S Raina 53 off 36 | R Jadeja 11 off 10 || win by 6 wickets)
Now, Jadeja has imperiously slogged Morkel flat to the Mid-wicket boundary for four . And two balls later, it's done and dusted.
GL 119/4 after 13 overs (S Raina 52 off 35 | R Jadeja 6 off 8 || need 6 from 42 balls)
Yusuf Pathan comes in to bowl the 13th over. Raina has once again unfurled his inside-out one-legged stroke for four on the off-side. And that brings his fifty up in style.
GL 113/4 after 12 overs (S Raina 47 off 31 | R Jadeja 5 off 6 || need 12 from 48 balls)
Jadeja escapes a leading edge, and the rest of Narine's over is played out respectfully by both batsmen. 6 runs off it.
GL 107/4 after 11 overs (S Raina 45 off 29 | R Jadeja 1 off 2 || need 18 from 54 balls)
Holder again. Raina now scrunches himself up to be able to tuck a short one away through Fine-leg for four , and then pulls a squib to the Midwicket boundary for another four . 10 runs again.
GL 97/4 after 10 overs (S Raina 36 off 24 | R Jadeja 0 off 1 || need 28 from 60 balls)
Finch is in a hurry now. Narine bowls wide-ish, Finch moves away to the leg-side, and then stretches across with his short arms to chop it over Extra Cover for four . But now, his watch is ended. Raina and Finch (26 from 23) have a mid-pitch collision and the pudgy right-hander has to go, run-out. Raina wasn't looking where he was going there. The Lions are in a comfortable position, but seem to be doing themselves some damage in trying to accelerate for NRR's sake.
GL 87/3 after 9 overs (S Raina 34 off 23 | A Finch 19 off 19 || need 38 from 66 balls)
Jason Holder comes in now. More pace. But not much damage. Just the 4 runs as his length is spot on.
GL 83/3 after 8 overs (S Raina 33 off 22 | A Finch 17 off 14 || need 42 from 72 balls)
Morkel stays on. Why is Gambhir persisting with the pacers, who have gone at over 10 an over between them? It's not like he needs to get Rajpoot and Morkel out of the way. He has Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla languishing in the outfield. Anyway...
And Finch is seeing the bright side of this. He stands tall and gives the full delivery a good old-fashioned golf swing to catapult it over Long-on for six . Then Raina pirouettes on his toes and plays an unreal swivel-pull over Fine-leg for four .
>@SonySIX Right that reaction for >@TheGujaratLions played in perfect in >#GLvKKR>#EkIndiaHappywala>#HappywalaReaction>pic.twitter.com/pEGLE6fPx6
— SwatKat (@Swaty_Here) >May 19, 2016
GL 71/3 after 7 overs (S Raina 22 off 17 | A Finch 7 off 7 || need 54 from 78 balls)
Rajpoot is a tall man. And he musters up some pace. So when he bangs it in short, it really balloons up over Raina's head for a wide. And more loose bowling as he slips down the legside now, and it runs away for 5 wides , as Uthappa fails to stop it. Now, Raina gets width and slashes it over Gully for four . And now, the ball leaves his ball with a crack. The captain is in good touch. End of Powerplay be dammed, 16 runs come off that over.
GL 55/3 after 6 overs (S Raina 22 off 17 | A Finch 7 off 7 || need 70 from 84 balls)
Morkel is expensive, but the batsmen ought to be wary of the awkward movement he get off the pitch at any time. Not Raina. Who smacks another inside-out swipe, this time for six over Cover!
GL 45/3 after 5 overs (S Raina 14 off 13 | A Finch 6 off 5)
Narine is back on from the other end. What is this jugglery, Gambhir? Aaron Finch cuts him away for four through Point. And 6 runs come off the over.
GL 39/3 after 4 overs (S Raina 13 off 11 | A Finch 1 off 1)
Ok. Well, guess Narine was just a one-off experiment that paid off before being taken off? Morne Morkel is in. Pace on the ball is exactly what Lions need right now, and Karthik whips it away for four through Mid-wicket, then standing upright to slap it through Cover for another four . But Morkel comes back in a big way. Gets the ball to jag in like an off-break and crash into Karthik's (12 from 8) stumps. Green-tinge, do your thing.
GL 28/2 after 3 overs (S Raina 13 off 11 | D Karthik 2 off 3)
Rajpoot continues. I thought Shakib might have come in after what Narine enjoyed last over. Whoa. Raina plays his trademark one-legged punch through the Covers for four . Rajpoot comes back with a severing searing short one that cuts Karthik in half.
GL 20/2 after 2 overs (S Raina 7 off 7 | D Karthik 1 off 1)
Sunil Narine is into the attack. He should have some fun with his skidders and drift this evening. Whoops. A bit too much drift on this one, as it streams down leg-side for 5 wides . Next ball, though, his radar is back into alignment, and he raps McCullum in front with a ball that starts outside off-stump and floats sharply in towards leg. Beautiful delivery. And that's both members of the Destructive Duo back in the hutch inside the first 2 overs.
GL 12/1 after 1 over (B McCullum 6 off 2 | S Raina 5 off 3)
And the destructive duo of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum marches — nay, swaggers — out to the middle. They're probably thinking they'll breeze through to 125 with 10 overs to spare.
But Dwayne Smith (0 from 1) is gone. Ankit Rajpoot bowled it short. Short and slow enough to pull. But Smith gets a thin edge and Robin Uthappa fumbles once, twice, before grabbing it safely behind the wickets. Smith was highly potent as a bowler today, but will not be contributing with the bat. The captain is in. And promptly flashes a flick off the pads for four through Mid-on.
McCullum is not going to play a watching game to suss this pitch out or anything. Skips down and flat-bats Ankit for a flat horizontal-bat six over Midwicket.
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And that is an innings that has been shaped by the pitch. It was so green, you couldn't even differentiate it from the rest of the field. Even though Praveen Kumar went off early due to a side strain, Dwayne Smith clicked for the Gujarat Lions. And how. His 4 for 18 was the stingiest and strongest display ever in IPL history. Dwayne Bravo, along with the other slow spin bowlers in the Lions' attack stifled the Kolkata Knight Riders batsmen at the death, just as Yusuf Pathan and Jason Holder looked to inject some life into the drab innings.
Here's a great chance for the Lions to make amends on their flagging Net Run-rate. If they can complete this chase, and in good time, they won't need to worry about NRR anymore as they take the joint lead atop the Points table.
KKR 124/8 after 20 overs (S Narine 2 off 7 | M Morkel 1 off 1)
Bravo has the ball for the final over. And a couple of full deliveries, he goes around the wicket to Holder (13 from 8) and has him skying the slower one awkwardly and holing out at Long-on, before escorting Holder back to the dugout with the Champion dance. And that certainly won't be construed as an unpleasant send-off, if Holder's grin is any sign of cameraderie.
I love West Indies and West Indians ! They know how to Enjoy! >#GLvKKR>#VIVOIPL
— प्रमोद उवाच (@pramodgurav) >May 19, 2016
KKR 120/7 after 19 overs (S Narine 0 off 4 | J Holder 12 off 6)
Pathan looks to get some boundaries in now, as he moves across to scoop a full-toss through Fine-leg for four . And then he sends another full-toss careening towards the Extra-Cover boundary, but finds Raina's cupped hands around 3 centimetres from the ground. It all happened so fast, and Pathan (36 from 36) is gone. Sunil Narine is the new man in.
KKR 118/6 after 18 overs (Y Pathan 32 off 34 | J Holder 12 off 5)
Holder absolutely throws his entire body into it as he sees width, but gets a thick-edge past Karthik's diving hands and through really fine to the Third-man fence for four . Now, Holder takes a small hop across his stumps, and sights Bravo's slower one well enough to bash it over Cow-Corner for a giant six . Bravo comes back with a yorker. 15 runs off that over.
KKR 103/6 after 17 overs (Y Pathan 31 off 33 | J Holder 1 off 1)
Yadav (17 from 14) glides an amazing six over Extra Cover, before holing out at Square-leg with a miscued slog-sweep. Another 10-run over, so the runs are coming. Can the big man Jason Holder accelerate along with Pathan?
KKR 93/5 after 16 overs (Y Pathan 29 off 31 | S Yadav 10 off 11)
Suryakumar Yadav laps Bravo through Fine-leg for four . Clever shot. After the slowest toe-crusher you'll ever see, Bravo delivers a juicy short ball which Pathan absolutely plows down Mid-wicket for four . KKR need to maintain this rate and more for the remaining four overs if they are to aim for 150.
KKR 83/5 after 15 overs (Y Pathan 24 off 27 | S Yadav 5 off 9)
As Jadeja comes back, Pathan finally gets his juices flowing, with a cracking swat through the Covers for four . And then makes room for himself once more, and slog-sweeps it over Long-on for six .
. >@iamyusufpathan gets underneath this ball and deposits it over long on for a six! >#GLvKKR>#AmiKKR>pic.twitter.com/ROwMeMopjr
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) >May 19, 2016
KKR 69/5 after 14 overs (Y Pathan 12 off 23 | S Yadav 3 off 7)
Pathan is bareheaded, as spinners continue in tandem. But he is still not getting them airborne. Just 5 runs off Jakati's third over.
KKR 64/5 after 13 overs (Y Pathan 9 off 19 | S Yadav 1 off 5)
Ravindra Jadeja in now. More spin. More pace off the ball. I feel sorry for Kolkata Knight Riders. Worst conditions to lose a toss in. Pushes and nudges worth 3 runs in that over. Pathan is strangely subdued.
KKR 61/5 after 12 overs (Y Pathan 7 off 15 | S Yadav 0 off 3)
Smith again! Shakib (3 from 8) doesn't want to go the way of his predecessors, and gives the short riser a whack over Gully, but he hasn't got nearly enough on it because of who bowled the ball. And it falls straight in Third-man's hands. What a spell today by this West-Indian who is accummulating quite a midriff. Ends with a magnificent 4 for 18 from his four overs.
Dwayne Smith - 18 dot balls - the most bowled by a bowler in a match in >#IPL 2016 >#GLvKKR
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) >May 19, 2016
KKR 59/4 after 11 overs (Y Pathan 5 off 10 | S Hasan 2 off 6)
Jakati bowls out a quiet 4-run over before you could say loopy bowling.
KKR 55/4 after 10 overs (Y Pathan 5 off 10 | S Hasan 0 off 4)
And Smith is compensating beautifully for as Praveen Kumar is off tending to his ribs. Now, he's floated one through Chawla's (11 from 16) defences and rattled the woodwork. And Shakib Al Hasan has come in. He should have come in earlier, Chawla at number four is not really working for KKR.
KKR 54/3 after 9 overs (Y Pathan 4 off 9 | P Chawla 11 off 15)
Tim Cook is nodding edifiedly as Rajiv Shukla discusses the game with him. What is he saying? Shukla: Is your Apple greener than this wicket, Tim?
Shadab Jakati on now. And just 5 runs off the over as the utter lack of pace and skidding deliveries force Pathan and Chawla to merely nudge and push a few singles.
KKR 49/3 after 8 overs (Y Pathan 2 off 5 | P Chawla 9 off 13)
And the other Dwayne comes on. Something tells me Bravo is going to be a handful on this pitch. Chawla is trying really hard to get out the same way as Uthappa and Pandey, running risers behind square. Risky way to live. And Bravo is rolling his arm over with them slower balls.
KKR 47/3 after 7 overs (Y Pathan 1 off 3 | P Chawla 8 off 9)
Oh, and Smith has struck again with his dibbly-dobblies. And this time, it's Uthappa (25 from 19), who nearly replicates Pandey's wicket, trying to softly caress a slow riser over Third-man, but the ball gets stuck into Dinesh Karthik's gloves.
KKR 44/2 after 6 overs (R Uthappa 25 off 17 | P Chawla 7 off 8)
Chawla is dangerous. He thwacks Kulkarni's last ball — a slower one — for four through the Covers.
KKR 36/2 after 5 overs (R Uthappa 23 off 15 | P Chawla 2 off 4)
Smith comes on. And Pandey is gone! Trying to nudge a mild outswinger through Third-man, plays it straight into First Slip's hands. Piyush Chawla comes in at two-down again. He's transforming into an all-rounder, a la Steven Smith.
KKR 34/1 after 4 overs (R Uthappa 23 off 15 | M Pandey 1 off 1)
And Shadab Jakati has pulled off a blinding piece of fielding to get rid of Gambhir (8 from 8) here. Dives full pelt and stops Uthappa's drive with one hand, and flings it back sharply to throw the stumps down. 11 runs off the over and the important wicket of the captain.
Uthappa is still in attacking mode, as he swats an upright four straight through Mid-off, and then absolutely pummels Kulkarni through Mid-on for a blinding six to end the over.
KKR 23/0 after 3 overs (R Uthappa 13 off 10 | G Gambhir 8 off 8)
Uthappa plays his trademark flick off the pads as Kumar gets the line slightly wrong, or it doesn't swing. Either way, it's gone for an elegant four through Mid-wicket. And Dwayne Smith floats mid-air for an eternity but has dropped Gambhir's thick-edged drive at Gully. Kumar is clutching his sides now, looking uncomfortable.
KKR 14/0 after 2 overs (R Uthappa 7 off 6 | G Gambhir 7 off 6)
Uthappa has struck this on the up through the Covers for four . And Gautam Gambhir lofts Dhawal Kulkarni over Mid-off for another four .
KKR 3/0 after 1 over (R Uthappa 2 off 3 | G Gambhir 1 off 3)
Praveen Kumar begins just as suspected. With some swinging deliveries that tantalise the outside-edge a couple of times. Meanwhile, Robin Uthappa makes his 5,000th IPL run .
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Gujarat Lions win the toss and choose to bowl. It's a green pitch. Praveen Kumar should get that early swing. And BTW, Apple CEO Tim Cook is going to be at the match. The match is historic for that reason and because it's the first day-and-night IPL game at this venue.
Gujarat Lions today are debuting a wicketkeeper in Eklavya Dwivedi, along with a couple other changes, including Suresh Raina coming back in, a father...
DR Smith, BB McCullum, SK Raina*, KD Karthik†, AJ Finch, DJ Bravo, RA Jadeja, ER Dwivedi, P Kumar, SB Jakati, DS Kulkarni
And Kolkata Knight Riders . are playing Jason Holder in place of Andre Russel, who is out with an ankle injury...
RV Uthappa†, G Gambhir*, MK Pandey, YK Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, SA Yadav, JO Holder, PP Chawla, SP Narine, M Morkel, AS Rajpoot
Both teams are tied at 14 points as they go into this match, but Net Run-Rate separates the two teams; KKR are placed third and GL are at fifth position. To understand the dynamics of this, do read >our match preview .
