Caribbean Times 90th issue - Friday 15th April 2016

24 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Friday 15th April 2016
Finch, McCullum
propel Lions to big win
RAJKOT - Another
one-sided encounter, another
win for the chasing team.
This season’s IPL, it seems,
is on repeat mode, after
Gujarat Lions cruised to a
seven-wicket win against
Rising Pune Supergiants in
Rajkot.
After a strong start, Supergiants
looked set for a
score in excess of 180, but a
late collapse quickly turned
the contest in Lions’ favour.
Aaron Finch and Brendon
McCullum then effectively
killed the game after pillaging
62 in the Powerplay,
during their chase of 164.
MS Dhoni had pulled
back some momentum for
Supergiants by contributing
to a 20-run last over in the
first innings, but his bowlers
threw it all away.
Loose deliveries stacked
up, and the Lions openers
duly dispatched them. Four
fours and two sixes off
the seamers meant Dhoni
turned to M Ashwin in the
last over of the Powerplay,
but Finch took the legspinner
for four fours in a 19-
run over.
Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch punch gloves during their
85-run opening stand
Finch then hit Rajat
Bhatia for two sixes over
long-on in the seventh over,
but holed out to square leg
for 50 - his second half-century
of the season. By then,
though, the damage had
been done.
McCullum continued to
latch on to wayward bowling,
as the spinners failed
to extract much from the
patchy surface.
Supergiants’ day was
summed up when Dhoni
missed a routine stumping
with McCullum well short
of his crease after R Ashwin
yorked the batsman.
After McCullum lobbed
one to cover off Ishant
Sharma, the captain Suresh
Raina and Dwayne Bravo
completed the formalities
with cameos as Lions
reached the target with two
overs to spare.
Supergiants’ batting was
a tale of two halves. Faf du
Plessis and Ajinkya Rahane
continued from where they
left off against Mumbai Indians,
using exquisite timing
to plunder five fours in
the first 21 balls.
After Pravin Tambe
trapped Rahane lbw in the
fourth over, Pietersen and
du Plessis ensured a productive
Powerplay with a
cont’d on pg 23