GAMBHIR, LYNN STIFLE LIONS
Rajkot, April 7: Gautam Gambhir led from the front as former IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders made mincemeat of a 184run target against Gujarat Lions here on Friday, coasting to a 10-wicket victory alongside opening partner Chris Lynn in their Season 10 curtain-raiser.
The Kolkata duo posted an unbeaten 184, the chase with all 10 wickets intact in all T20 cricket after the Lions, sparked by an unbeaten 68 by captain Suresh Raina had posted 183/4 in the evening.
While Australia’s Lynn finished on 93 (41b, 6x4, 8x6), KKR skipper Gambhir was unbeaten on 76 (48b, 12x4). No Lions bowler was spared the lash as the Kolkata openers made light of what had appeared to be a testing target, winning with 31 balls to spare.
Earlier, Raina led from the front with an unbeaten 68 to propel Gujarat Lions to 183/4.
Raina top-scored for the hosts and consumed 51 balls during his knock which was studded with seven boundaries. Dinesh Karthik (47) and Brendon McCullum (35) also played good hands for the Lions.
Sent in to bat, hard-hitting Englishman Jason Roy (14) made a breezy start to his IPL debut, smacking 2 fours off Trent Boult in the opening over. But Roy’s cameo came to and end in the fourth over when he got a leading edge of a short delivery from Piyush Chwala (1/33). But the wicket hardly made any impact on McCullum’s style of play as he clobbered Chawla for a six just two balls later. Gujarat Lions: J. Roy c Pathan b Chawla 14, B. McCullum lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 35, S. Raina (not out) 68, A. Finch c Yadav b Kuldeep Yadav 15, K. Karthik c Yadav b Boult 47, D. Smith (not out) 0. Extras (lb 2,w 2) 4. Total: (for 4 wkts, in 20 overs) 183. FoW: 1-22, 2-72, 3-92, 4-179. Bowling: Boult 4-0-40-1 (1nb), Chawla 4-0-33-1 (1 nb), Narine 4-0-33-0, Woakes 3-0-35-0, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-25-2, Pathan 1-015-0.
Kolkata Knight Riders: G. Gambhir* not out 76, C. Lynn not out 93. Extras: (b4, w11) 15. Total: (0 wkts, in 14.5 overs) 184 Bowling: Kumar2-0-13-0, Kulkarni 2.5-0-42-0 (2w), Gony 2-0-32-0 (3w), Kaushik 4-0-40-0, Smith 10-23-0, Jakati 3-0-30-0 (2w)
Raina then joined the party and hit Chris Woakes for two boundaries in the sixth over.
The Lions skipper, however, got a reprieve in the fifth ball of the same over when, running backward, Kuldeep failed to latch on to a tough chance. McCullum looked ominous in his short stay as he welcomed Kuldeep with a four and a six in the next over. But Kuldeep got his revenge in his next over when McCullum missed a straight delivery that caught the former Kiwi batsman plumb in front of the wicket.
New man in Aaron Finch (15) then smashed Pathan for consecutive sixes before he was holed to Suryakumar off Kuldeep at long-off in the next over.