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Match Report:

Scorecard

Sunrisers swing to win despite fiesty Finch fifty

Aaron Finch sparkled but Gujarat's top-order crumbled as some superb catching and a David Warner opening blitz saw Sunrisers cruise to a five-wicket win

The match in a tweet: Finch sparkles with unbeaten fifty but brilliant swing bowling by Kumar and Mustafizur made it an easy target to chase for Sunrisers

The result: Gujarat Lions 6-126 lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 5-129 by five wickets

Swing on a string: The opening salvo from Sunrisers bowlers Bhuveshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra looked more like a Test match than a T20 contest. It took Gujarat 14 deliveries to get off the mark. By the 16th ball they had lost their first wicket as the ball hooped around.

Kumar (2-28) swung the ball both ways, making the batsmen hop, skip and jump. Nehra (0-23) and Mustafizur Rahman (2-17) joined in too, and it seemed as if the white ball was attached to a string in their hands.

Openers Dwayne Smith (1 from 9) and Brendon McCullum (7 from 19) had no answer. After three overs, the scorecard read a meagre 1-3. By the end of the powerplays it had become 3-26 as the Lions had dug themselves an immense hole. Kumar removed Smith and skipper Suresh Raina (20 off 10), while Rahman got rid of Gujarat's highest run-scorer this season, Dinesh Karthik, for a three-ball duck.

Image Id: ~/media/7E2F994EBE40489FB66AD12E036D202E Image Caption: Finch was in great form for Gujarat to hit an unbeaten 51 // Sportzpics

Catching brilliance: With the ball moving around, Hyderabad's fielders were aided by some clever fielding changes and placements by skipper David Warner. It paid off, with Kane Williamson pulling off a blinder at backward point to dismiss Karthik. He leapt to his left, sticking out his hand and plucking the ball inches from the ground, which TV replays deemed a clean catch.

Later this moment was topped by flying sub V Shankar, who held on to a brilliant catch to dismiss Dwayne Bravo (18 off 20) off Barinder Sran (1-21) in the 15th over. The fielder ran in from square leg, completing the diving catch to his left just as the ball dipped to the boundary, and completed his effort inches away from the ropes.

Warner's gift: In between these moments of catching brilliance, there was the easiest of drops in an all-Australian play: Moises Henriques speared in a yorker, Aaron Finch gave himself some room and launched it towards the long-off fence. The Victorian – batting in the unusual position of No.5 for Gujarat – did not get the elevation he was after to clear the ropes and the ball sailed straight into the hands of Warner, who turfed it.

Image Id: ~/media/2DE8ECE8984847C58E1C0B0BE9B6172C Image Caption: Warner took a stunner to remove McCullum, but later dropped a soda // Sportzpics

Finch was on 30 at the time, and used his second life to score his fourth half-century of the season, an unbeaten 51 from 42 balls that helped resuscitate the Lions' innings.

Perhaps the hallmark of his quality knock was the manner in which he handled the Bangladeshi seamer Mustafizur, taking 13 from 12 balls faced by the bowler, including a six. He had added 45 with Bravo in what was the most vital stand for his team, and helped them cross the 100 mark in the 18th over.

The Aussie pack: Moises Henriques finished with (1-24) and removed McCullum. And Warner blew away any hopes the Lions had of defending their below-par total, smacking 24 off 17 to give his side a fiery start. He fell to Dhawal Kulkarni (2-17) in the fourth over. And later Henriques scored 14 off 16, putting on 22 with Shikhar Dhawan.

The return of Yuvraj: The Indian cricket fraternity sat up for the old-timer's return, after an ankle injury had forced him out of the later half of the World T20. It didn't last long though, as he scratched around for 14 deliveries, scoring just 5, before becoming Kulkarni's second victim.

Bug infestations and Super Sopper crashes: As if the conditions weren't tough enough, some untimely rain had brought out the bugs, with the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium swamped by an insect infestation. All manner of creepy crawlies and winged creatures were bothering the players throughout the match. It was severe enough to cause a few stoppages in play, and certainly did not make the batsmen's task any easier against the moving ball.

Later, to get rid of the moisture on the field, two Super Soppers were deployed … only to collide in their rush to get off the field.

Dhawan on a mission: Having lost Warner and Williamson early, Dhawan looked to dig in and bat throughout the innings. The pitch had settled down somewhat yet the Lions' pace bowlers had restricted Hyderabad to 3-57 after 10 overs. But Dhawan was unflappable with 47no from 40, running hard between the wickets and punishing the weak link in Gujarat's bowling as Pradeep Sangwan disappeared for 28 in two overs. Fittingly, Dhawan smacked back-to-back boundaries to secure the win with an over to spare.

The stat: Dwayne Bravo became the second cricketer to play in 300 T20 matches. His compatriot Kieron Pollard heads the list with 307 T20 matches.

The wash-up: This was a third consecutive loss for Gujarat Lions, after losing to Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils. The hiccup is now a serious dip that will worry them even though they sit second in the standings with 12 points from 10 games. With their fifth win in eight games, meanwhile, the Sunrisers have pulled themselves to fourth in the table, leapfrogging Mumbai Indians who also have 10 points.

The next stop: The Sunrisers will now make the short trip to Vizag, and take on Mumbai Indians in their new 'home' on Sunday afternoon. Later in the evening game, Gujarat face a tough match against table-topping Kolkata Knight Riders.