IPL 10: Match 13, Who Said What: Gujarat Lions v Rising Pune Supergiant

Traditionally I would love to play Test cricket: Tye

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Gujarat Lions
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Gujarat Lions. (Photo Source: BCCI)

In an event where the bottom two teams in the IPL faced each other at Rajkot, Gujarat Lions opened their account in the points table by defeating the Rising Pune Supergiant by 7 wickets. The match started off with both sides making wholesale changes in their side. Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to field fist, putting the RPSG batting line-up into a test. Steve Smith top-scored yet again with his 28-ball 43.

Smith was ably supported by cameos from all the batsmen in the line-up except Rahane and Dhoni.  Newcomer Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Manoj Tiwary and even Ankit Sharma fired at impressive strike rates but gave their wickets away in search for quick runs. However, the highlight of the innings arrived during the last over where debutant Andrew Tye (plays for Perth Scorchers in the BBL) went on to take the second hat trick of the day by dismissing Shardul Thakur, Manoj Tiwary, and Ankit Sharma. Tye ended up with an unbelievable figure of  5-17 in a T20 match, thereby becoming the top wicket-taker by a debutant in the IPL. The RPSG set the Gujarat Lions a competitive target of 172.

Gujarat Lions came out all guns blazing with the help of their renowned opening pair from the previous season, Dwayne Smith, and Brendon McCullum. McCullum scored a 32-ball 49 while his partner contributed 47 off 30. Raina came in and dazzled with some of the most breath-taking strokes. He hit a fluent 22-ball 35 while he was matched by Aaron Finch who finished off the game with his 33-run contribution. All in all, it was a comfortable chase for the home team except for the phase when they lost three key wickets within 17 runs.

Andrew Tye

The fast bowler from Western Australia stated that he loved the shortest format of the game where he can experiment with his variations, but his primary goal is to play the longest format of the match. He also credited his success to his coach Brad Hodge.

 It’s a good format of the game. Traditionally I would love to play Test cricket, but I loved my slower balls. Hodgy is a good coach and he lets us do our job. Pretty emotional, you gotta assess the conditions and see which ball works for you. Knuckle ball was my favourite. (chuckles)

Suresh Raina

The Gujarat Lions skipper admitted that the team was tentative having lost the first two fixtures of the league. He also praised the exceptional performance from Tye. Also, being from CSK, Raina also spared few words for their champion opening combo of Smith and McCullum.

Losing 2 games it was very difficult for us. AJ bowled brilliantly. I’m very happy for him, he’s a smart cricketer and varies his pace smartly in the death overs. Jason missed out today, but Baz and Smith did the job for us. They did it for so many years for CSK and now they are doing it for us. Very happy. Couldn’t have asked for anything better (on the win in his 150th game in the IPL).

Steven Smith

The RPSG skipper felt his team were 20 runs short of the desired total on a pitch which changed its course during the match. He also commended the efforts of the opening duo of McCullum and Dwayne Smith who put the RPSG bowlers on the backfoot during the powerplays. The skipper also mentioned that being a new team, RPSG are still on course to find their perfect XI

Not really, the wicket changed over the course of 40 overs. I wasn’t pretty worried about it. We were in a good position with the bat and lost wickets in clump. Probably 20 runs short and it wasn’t enough tonight. It was talked (taking the pace off the ball). Tough to bowl to those two (Dwayne Smith and Baz). They set the tone and when they get going, it’s hard to stop. One of the disadvantages of being a new team is that we are still trying to establish our best XI

Gujarat Lions would like to continue with their momentum and look to defeat the Mumbai Indians at their fortress in Wankhede on Sunday. While RPSG face RCB at Bengaluru following the GL vs MI matchup.

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