Lynn, Gambhir blow Gujarat Lions away
Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Gujarat Lions by 10 wickets as unbeaten half-centuries from Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir steered the two-time champions to an ecstatic start to their campaign, here at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Friday.
After winning the toss and putting Gujarat Lions to bat first, Gautam Gambhir and the KKR camp might have been a worried lot as Suresh Raina, Brendon McCullum and Dinesh Karthik helped the hosts pile on 183 on the board. However, what seemed to be a formidable total was soon reduced to a below-par one as Lynn and Gambhir toyed around with the Gujarat Lions bowling to put 73 runs in the six power-play overs. They continued the carnage as they smashed records at will and picked up their individual half-centuries. While Gambhir paced his innings well with 12 boundaries to lead from the front, Lynn’s brute power and clean-hitting dismantled every single strategy Raina might have had in his mind. This was only the third time in 87 T20s that Chris Lynn had opened the innings but the Australian didn’t disappoint. While he tormented almost every bowler he faced, he had reserved his best for Dwayne Smith who he smashed for 23 runs in the seventh over to reach his half-century in just 19 balls.
He was dropped twice in the 15th over off successive deliveries, but the fate of the match was already sealed by then. Lynn struck eight sixes and six boundaries in his 41-ball knock. This was the highest total chased down in T20 cricket with a side having all its wickets in hand. This was also KKR’s highest stand in any wicket in the Indian Premier League.
Earlier, Gujarat Lions rode on the brilliance of captain Suresh Raina as they put up 183 for four in their pursuit to notch up a third straight win over the Knights. There was a boundary in every single over till the ninth when Kuldeep Yadav managed to get rid of McCullum, but the damage was already done by then. His 24-ball 35 coupled with Raina’s steady 68 was instrumental before Dinesh Karthik scored a brilliant 25-ball 47 coming lower down the order. BRIEF SCORES Gujarat Lions 183 for 4 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 68*, Dinesh Karthik 47, Brendon McCullum 35, Kuldeep Yadav 2 for 25) lost to KKR 184 for 0 in 14.5 overs (Gautam Gmabhir 76*, C Lynn 93*).