Finch, Bravo plunder Punjab

The match in a tweet: Aaron Finch and Dwayne Bravo star as Gujarat Lions chase down 162 on IPL debut, beating Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets

The early fireworks: Punjab opener Murali Vijay played the primary role, after Gujarat Lions won the toss and chose to field on their IPL debut. The Indian Test opener smacked 42 runs off 34 balls, including five boundaries and a six, as he put on a rollicking opening stand of 78 runs with Manan Vohra. After a slow start, Kings XI Punjab were put into high gear as Vohra hit three fours in the fifth over bowled by allrounder James Faulkner. But Vohra was lucky to not fall for 10 runs, as Bravo spilled a chance at deep midwicket. Instead he finished with 38 off 23 balls. 

The turning point: Vohra and Vijay both fell to Ravindra Jadeja’s mix of straight and turning deliveries, falling in successive overs to the left-arm spinner as he finished with 2-30. The next pair at the crease was David Miller and Glenn Maxwell, and with Punjab placed at 1-87 at the halfway mark, the stage was set for some fireworks.

But Bravo more than made up for his mistake early on, and got rid of both big-hitting batsmen before they could inflict much damage. In the 12th over, the ‘champion’ allrounder first castled Maxwell, out for just two runs, and then two balls later, bowled Miller as well, out for 15 off 10 balls. Bravo and the Lions teammates pegged Punjab back from what was looking like a sure 180-plus total. 

The Australian show: It could have been a damp start for Marcus Stoinis’ IPL season, forced to dive back to make his ground at the non-striker's end after Wriddhiman Saha sent him back. Avoiding the dreaded diamond duck, the Victorian allrounder pulled Punjab out of trouble from 4-102, putting on 55 runs with Saha for the fifth wicket. The partnership helped the score move past the 150-mark in the penultimate over. The duo was separated only in the final over of the innings, as Bravo returned to finish with 4-22. Stoinis finished at 33 off 22 balls, with four boundaries, while Saha scored 20 runs, with Punjab reaching 6-161 in the allotted overs.  

It was a great recovery, but just about a par-score on the Mohali pitch. In reply, Gujarat didn’t make the best of starts, with Brendon McCullum stumped in the first over for a two-ball duck. His partner, Finch, was in no mood to go back early and he punished the Punjab bowlers. 

He scored 74 runs off 47 balls to lay a match-winning foundation for his side. Yet, he did it all without hitting a single six. He hit 12 boundaries instead, the first five of which came off Mitchell Johnson and Sandeep Sharma in the powerplay overs. When Stoinis was introduced into the attack, he too was hit for three fours in his first two overs as Finch raced to his half-century off just 32 balls. 

Finch had seen his skipper Suresh Raina fall for 20 at the other end, but Dinesh Karthik gave him the support he needed. Together with Finch, Karthik added 65 runs for the third wicket as the 100-mark came up for Gujarat in 61 balls. Finch was then was stumped off leg-spinner Pardeep Sahu to end his brutal knock. 

With 45 required from 48 balls, Johnson returned to tighten things up in the second half of the innings. His two overs went for 17 runs though, as Karthik stood tall among the falling wickets at the other end. 

Jadeja was run-out by Johnson in spectacular fashion - a well-timed football kick hitting the stumps. Johnson also dismissed India’s under-19 captain Ishan Kishan, caught in the deep by a juggling Mohit Sharma. Gujarat though weren’t in too much bother, reaching 5-162 with 14 balls to spare, securing a winning start to franchise league cricket. 

The stat: With his four-wicket haul in this game, Bravo crossed 300 wickets in T20 cricket. It is an astonishing achievement but not surprising considering his influence in the shortest format of the game. Overall, he has picked up 109 wickets in 92 IPL matches, placing him fifth in the competition’s top wicket-takers’ list. Bravo has twice been the leading wicket-taker in an IPL season, finishing with 32 and 26 wickets in 2013 and 2015, respectively, for Chennai Super Kings.  In short, Gujarat Lions bought the Purple Cap.

The wash-up: Kings XI Punjab will take heart from the good batting performance at the start, given they had only one fifty-plus opening stand during last season. They will be disappointed with where they finished oafter 20 overs, for they won’t end up victorious with too many 160-run scores in this competition. Meanwhile, Gujarat Lions will be happy enough that a team assembled only recently was able to get off the mark with a well-rounded win. 

The next stop: Gujarat Lions will now head over to Rajkot to play their first home game in the IPL, taking onfellow newcomers Rising Pune Supergiants on Thursday. Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab will make the short trip down to Delhi to take on the Daredevils on Friday.