If Dwayne Bravo was forced to do a parody of his famous Champion song’s lyrics for his Indian Premier League team Gujarat Lions from yesterday’s game against hosts Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, it would be something like “Champion, Bravo, champion ... Finch is a champion, Jadeja is a champion, Karthik is a champion”.
Though Aaron Finch (74) was adjudged Man of the Match, it was a decent team effort and a bit harsh on Bravo as Gujarat comfortably chased down Punjab’s target of 162.
Bravo missed out on a five-wicket haul but his four wickets played a crucial role in limiting Punjab to that total and not post in excess of 180.
The first two wickets for Bravo also ensured that the World Twenty20 champion all-rounder surpassed Lasith Malinga’s 299 wickets as the highest wicket-taker in the format and become the first bowler to the 300 milestone.
A surprised Finch conceded in the post-match briefing as much. “I think all credit goes to our bowlers. It was a beautiful wicket. There was some grass on it and it skidded on really well. I shanked a couple, got lucky, but in T20 you need a bit of luck early on.”
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A total of 160-plus had been chased down on eight occasions at the Punjab Cricket Stadium ground and five of them had been the hosts themselves.
Worse, Gujarat lost the explosive Brendon McCullum when he was stumped for a duck in the first over.
Finch took the fight to the opposition from the word go, the opener dishing out 12 boundaries in his knock off 47 balls on a wicket ideal for batting.
When he left, Dinesh Karthik ensured the runs kept coming as Gujarat joined Rising Pune Supergiants in getting off on a winning note as the season’s two new teams.
Earlier, Gujarat, who won the toss and put Punjab in to bat, joy came in pairs even as the six wickets they prised away could not deny a total of 161.
Punjab openers Murali Vijay (42) and Manan Vohra (38) had no trouble negotiating Praveen Kumar and James Faulkner while Pradeep Sangwan and Sarabjit Ladda came under attack. It was the introduction of the left-arm spin of the seasoned Ravindra Jadeja that did the trick as he took out both the openers in his first two overs.
David Miller was warming up when Gujarat brought in their trump card with Bravo removing the dangerous Glenn Maxwell and Miller. Punjab went from 78 for no loss to 102 for four in quick time.
The unheralded Marcus Stoinis steadied the ship with Wriddhiman Saha for a 55-run partnership. Saha’s unusual knock of 20 from 25 balls had no big hits.
A final flourish from the well-set batsmen was denied again by the wily Bravo who cut the pace off his bowling as both holed out to long-on in successive deliveries.
Bravo missed his hat-trick and a five-wicket haul on the next ball, the final delivery of the match, when Ladda dropped a sitter.
Lauding the team, Gujarat captain Suresh Raina said: “We pulled it [back] really well. Bravo, PK, Faulkner, Jadeja bowled really well. At one stage, we thought they would get to 200.”
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