Rising Pune Supergiants 163/5 (20/20 ov)
Gujarat Lions 164/3 (18/20 ov)
Gujarat Lions won by 7 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)
Indian Premier League newcomers Gujarat Lions kept up their perfect start to the ninth edition of the competition as they beat fellow debutants Rising Pune Supergiants at Rajkot on Thursday evening.
Gujarat lost the toss and were put in to bowl, but some fine work with both the bat and ball saw them over the line to win by seven wickets with 12 balls to spare.
Pune captain MS Dhoni chose to bat first in the first IPL game at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
Suresh Raina made three changes to the Gujarat side that beat Kings XI Punjab in Mohali.
Legspinner Pravin Tambe, left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati and batsman Akshdeep Nath were drafted in for Pradeep Sangwan, Sarabjit Ladda and Ishan Kishan.
Supergiants were unchanged from the side that won the tournament opener against Mumbai Indians.
Opener Faf du Plessis helped Pune set a challenging target as his 69 off 43 balls led them to 163 for five.
He was ably helped by Kevin Pietersen (37) before he was bowled by Dwayne Bravo.
The score could and should have been more, but Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh both got out cheaply.
The home side looked in the mood as the went in chase of their target, with Aaron Finch reaching his fifty before getting out without adding to the half-century. Brendon McCullum almost repeated the feat, but was caught off Du Plessis on 49.
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It was left to Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja to finish off Pune and the match finished on a quiet note as, after Bravo had just smashed a six, a wide from bowler RP Singh brought up 164 for five for Gujarat.
“It’s nice to contribute with the bat in two wins,” said Player of the Match Finch.
“It was a beautiful batting wicket.
“It was great batting with Brendon tonight. He is a special player.
I’m much happier that he is in our team. It’s a great start.
“Pune is a strong side that is led well by MS [Dhoni], but the way we’ve played has been pleasing.
“Probably if we can pick a few wickets in the Powerplays, it would be fantastic.
“Jadeja and Bravo have also been brilliant in pulling things back.”
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