Raina guides Lions to victory
Finally, the Gujarat Lions let out a roar worthy of their pride. Led admirably by Suresh Raina who anchored the chase scoring 84, they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets here at Eden Gardens on Friday with 10 balls to spare. This was the Knights’ second loss and the Lions’ second win in six games.
Like KKR, the Lions got off to a brisk start; Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum doing what Sunil Narine had earlier in the evening. The Knights chipped away with wickets at regular intervals but Raina, the IPL’s most successful run-getter, took on everything the vaunted bowling attack had to offer and smothered them with an audacious display of stroke making.
Till the 17th over, the Knights thought they had a chance but Raina hit Nathan Coulter-Nile for two fours on the off-side and a six over square-leg that tilted the scales in their favour.
Raina and Ravindra Jadeja added 58 runs in the calm, assured manner expected of these two experienced T20 stars. KKR scored 187/5 riding another early blast from Narine and handy contributions from Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey after being asked to bat. It was Jadeja who ensured the Knights wouldn’t run away with the game, finishing with 4-0-31-0, his figures being marred by two fours in the last three deliveries.
That their biggest over came in the innings’ second when Narine took 17 off James Faulkner elucidates how the Knights couldn’t really change gears. They managed over 10 in only two overs after the sixth. Uthappa’s innings had more panache than power. The way he glided Dhawal Kulkarni, James Faulkner and Jadeja for boundaries epitomised confidence and class in equal measure.