IPL 10, Match 23, KKR v GL - Gujarat Lions Player Ratings

The Kolkata Knight Riders were stunned by the Gujarat Lions at their fortress at the Eden Gardens. The Lions beat the Knight Riders by 4 wickets to register their second win of the season. The win did not do a world of good to their position in the points table but has surely helped them to get back to winning ways. Coming into the game, the Knight Riders were expected to steamroll the Lions the way they had done the last time these two teams had met this season.

Kolkata had a brilliant start to their innings with Sunil Narine playing a blitz knock at the start of the innings with a 17-ball 42. Skipper Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa then added a crucial run stand to stabilize the KKR innings. Towards the end, it was a fighting finish from Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey that helped the team to take the score to 187/5 in their 20 overs.

In the run chase, Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum provided a good start to the Gujarat Lions in the powerplay. But it was the captain’s knock from Suresh Raina who led the team to their second win of the season. Raina scored a match winning 84 as wickets kept tumbling from the other end. The Lions won the match by 4 wickets and 10 balls to spare.

Here are the Gujarat Lions Player Ratings from the KKR v GL encounter:

Aaron Finch – 6/10

Gujarat opener Aaron Finch provided a free-flowing start to the Lions on the day. Finch was promoted to the opening position for the first time this season. He took the opportunity with both hands and impressed with his power hitting in the powerplay. In the 15 balls that he played, he scored 31 runs.

He hit four boundaries and 2 sixes to his name. Finch took the attack to the KKR bowlers first up and did not let them settle at the crease. Finch added 42 runs for the opening wicket with Brendon McCullum. It is never easy to outplay someone like McCullum but Finch managed to outshine his opening partner.

Brendon McCullum – 6/10

Brendon McCullum managed to stay calm at the crease. He saw Finch take the attack to the Knight Riders but did not let affect his game play. He did not try to match the scoring shots of Finch and rather took his time to settle at the crease.

Once he found his feet at the wicket, he started playing his shots. Once the wicket of Finch fell, McCullum started his onslaught against the opposition bowlers. He smashed 33 off just 17 balls in the match. He hit 5 fours in addition to a six in this particular outing.

Suresh Raina – 9.5/10

Suresh Raina was the Player of the Match for his fabulous innings today. He led the team to a 4 wicket win with a match winning knock to his name. Coming in to the game, Raina was under immense pressure. The pressure was not only to get the runs on the board but help the team notch up points on the points table as well.

Raina got both the boxes ticked in one go. His superlative knock on the day helped the team get two important points and register their second wicket of the match. Raina plundered 84 runs off 46 deliveries. He hit 9 magnificent boundaries and 4 towering maximums to set up the win for the Gujarat Lions. It was unfortunate that he could not finish the game for his team and was dismissed with handful of runs still needed to be fetched.

Dinesh Karthik – 1/10

Dinesh Karthik was a big disappointment in the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Karthik had been in a rich vein of form in the season thus far. He had two scores of 40 plus in the season and that is something that prompted the team management to promote him to the top order. He came in to bat at number 4 on the day but largely failed to make an impact. He lasted only 3 deliveries and was sent packing for the same figure in the match.

Ishan Kishan – 1/10

Ishan Kishan, the young Indian batsman, had lit up the stadium when the Gujarat Lions had played against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Albeit they had lost the match, Kishan had ensured that he had left an impression on the critics and pundits with his power hitting.

It was perhaps that superlative knock from the youngster that saw him being promoted in this game against the Knight Riders. But the youngster failed to impress on the day. He was dismissed cheaply on 4. Not only did he fail to score runs but he consumed as many as 11 balls for his midget knock.

Dwayne Smith – 2/10

Dwayne Smith has been one of the perennial performers in the IPL. However, it seems that his preferred position of batting is the opening slot. He was asked to bat in the lower middle order in the game and was demoted from his usual spot of the opening batsman. He lasted a handful and deliveries and his solitary moment of brilliance on the day was the only four that he hit on the day. With the ball, he was given two overs to bowl and he did a decent job by conceding only 12 runs in his spell.

James Faulkner – 4/10

James Faulkner got his first match to play in this season of the tournament. He came in at the expense of Andrew Tye in the match and had the big boots to fill since Tye had been the most successful bowler for the Lions this season. Faulkner bowled decently up front but took a heavy toll towards the end.

He gave 38 runs in his quota of 4 overs. However, as skipper Suresh Raina rightly noted, Faulkner managed to take the key wicket of Gautam Gambhir in the game. Faulkner managed to get Gambhir caught on 33 by Suresh Raina in the 12th over of the game.

Ravindra Jadeja – 5/10

Ravindra Jadeja has had a very quiet tournament until now and is yet to show the class and action that he is renowned for. The all-rounder had minor contributions in the Gujarat Lions victory today. He supported skipper Suresh Raina by holding the fort at the other end. He scored an unbeaten 19 at a time when Raina was running out of partners at one stage. Earlier in the game, Jadeja had a much-improved show with the ball as well. He bowled his full quota of 4 overs and gave just 31 runs with the ball.

Basil Thampi – 4/10

Basil Thampi has been a revelation for the Lions this season with the ball. The young Kerala pacer has managed to carve a name for himself in the bowling department. Thampi has the ability to bowl the yorkers at will and is emerging to be a good death overs bowler for the team. Thampi has however failed to contain the run flow. He leaked as many as 44 runs on the day and returned with just 1 wicket to his name.

Praveen Kumar – 5/10

Praveen Kumar was taken for a plenty of runs in the powerplay. Sunil Narine took special liking to the bowling of Praveen Kumar and hit him for a host of boundaries in the very first over of the game. That managed to spoil the bowling figures of PK. Praveen Kumar bowled only 2 overs on the day and went for 24 runs. He, however, managed to pick up a wicket – and that of the leading scorer from the opposition. He dismissed Robin Uthappa in the penultimate over of the match.

Dhawal Kulkarni – 3/10

Dhawal Kulkarni was handed the ball quite late in the game. Kulkarni has usually been a new ball bowler and handling him the older ball is not the best of the things done to him. He bowled only 2 overs on the day and gave away 23 runs. He had no wickets to show up against his name in the match. Dhawal Kulkarni’s poor run in the tournament continued.