21 April,2016 11:29 PM IST | | Haresh Pandya
Sunrisers Hyderabad openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan hardly break into a sweat keeping all wickets intact to chase down Gujarat Lions’ target to hand the westerners their first defeat of IPL-9 at home in Rajkot
Sunrisers Hyderabad openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan hardly broke into a sweat as they chased down Gujarat Lions meagre target of 136 with all 10 wickets intact and more than five overs to spare.
The result saw the Lions taste their first defeat in the Indian Premier League's ninth edition and ended their three-match winning streak.
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner (right) slams one en route his 48-ball 74 not out against Gujarat Lions in an IPL-9 match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday. Pic/PTI
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took four wickets to restrict Gujarat Lions to 135 for 8 and thus made it easy for the Hyderabad batsmen.
Skipper Warner along with his partner Dhawan coasted to a win. Warner was unbeaten on 74, while partner Dhawan was 53 not out as the Hyderabadis, who had earlier won the toss and chosen to bowl first, comfortably chased down the target of 136 in 14.5 overs.
Earlier, Aaron Finch, who engineered the Lions' three successful run-chases in as many matches, was expected to fire on all cylinders again after the Sunrisers chose to bowl. But he failed to read a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery in the very first over and was clean bowled without scoring.It was a big scalp for the Sunrisers whose collective joy had to be seen to be believed.
Suresh Raina began with a flourish and executed a beautiful cover-drive with effortless brilliance off Kumar's next delivery. It was the shot of a man in form as Raina went on to play many attractive strokes all round the wicket as he completed a scintillating 50 in 34 balls. So commanding was Raina that the Lions were 41 for one in five overs. For once, even Brendon McCullum had to play second fiddle to the rampaging Raina.
However, while Raina was playing one of his better innings, wickets kept falling at regular intervals at the other end. There was no devil in the pitch, but McCullum went for 18, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Bravo for eight each and Ravindra Jadeja for 14 - each trying to play unconvincing shots. It made Raina change gears and curb his natural game. He became defensive and watchful and finally got out to Kumar for 75 (51 balls, 9 fours) while trying to clear the ground.
Kumar finished with impressive figures of 4-29 and was declared man-of-the-match.
