The third match of the Indian Premier League took place between Kings XI Punjab and the new franchise Gujarat Lions at Mohali. The Lions, led by Suresh Raina won the toss who then elected to field
Here are the Game Changers of the match:
The Opening Stand
View post on imgur.com
The opening pair for Punjab provided a solid start to their innings and set a platform to excel. Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra put up an opening stand of 78 runs before Vohra was caught behind on one of Jadeja’s skidding deliveries. Vijay was dismissed in the 11th over by Jadeja. Vijay and Vohra scored 42 and 38 respectively.
Sir Jadeja’s Spell
View post on imgur.com
Ravindra Jadeja was the only other bowler to get wickets other than DJ Bravo among the six bowlers used by the Lions. He provided crucial breakthroughs by sending both opening batsmen back to the pavilion. He finished with figures of 4-0-30-2.
Chaaaaampion Bravo
.@Newbigdog is here to make you dance to some new tunes. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/AqQaCPkIz6
— The Gujarat Lions (@TheGujaratLions) February 22, 2016
Dwayne Bravo proved once again why he is the real Champion. The West Indian took four wickets in his spell of four overs giving away just 22 runs at an economy rate of 5.50. He dismissed the two big hitters Miller and Maxwell in the 12th over of the innings and later came back to take wickets of Saha and Stoinis on consecutive deliveries in the final over. He now has a tally of 302 T20 wickets, the highest by any cricketer in T20 cricket
Aaron Finch’s match-winning knock
After losing the destructive Brendon McCullum in the first over, Finch steadied the Lion’s ship. He played a paced innings and accelerated at the right moment. He went on to score a match-winning 74 off 47 balls which included 12 boundaries.
5.The Finish
View post on imgur.com
After the fall of Finch, wickets tumbled at regular intervals, but Dinesh Karthik took it upon himself to see his team through until the end. He scored 41 runs in 26 balls at a strike rate of 157.69. He ended the innings with a handsome four and brought victory upon the Lions.