Gujarat Lions take Kotla thriller despite Chris Morris’ heroics

In a pulsating contest at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, the Gujarat Lions held their nerve to beat the Delhi Daredevils by a solitary run, and as a result took flight to top of the VIVO IPL 2016 standings. In a match where the pendulum swung to and fro on several occasions, the Lions rode on the early damage caused by their opening pair, posted 172 runs on the board, and then held their nerve, despite a late onslaught from Chris Morris, to deny the home side by one run. With the hosts needing 18 of the final two overs, Praveen Kumar bowled a sensational penultimate over in which he conceded only four runs, and gave Dwayne Bravo a cushion of 14 runs. Morris and Pawan Negi could only muster 12 runs of Bravo’s final over and DD finished at 171-5.

Earlier in the evening, after asking the visitors to take first strike, the Daredevils were in for a rude shock as the Gujarat Lions opening pair of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum wielded their willows like an axe and motored along from the word go. Smith went after the Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan in the first over, picking up four boundaries and a total of 18 runs in the first over – even if a couple of them came in streaky fashion. In the third over, Zaheer Khan was at the receiving end yet again – this time at the hands of McCullum. The Kiwi batsman should have been dismissed on 2, but Sanju Samson patrolling the cover boundary misjudged a catch and saw the ball sail through his hands over the boundary.

The carnage continued as the Lions opening pair brought up the team 50 in 3.5 overs and got to the 100 mark in the ninth over. McCullum, who had faced only two deliveries in the first two overs, was the first of the two openers to get the half-century – he needed only 27 balls to get to the milestone. Smith got to the milestone one ball quicker, in style too, when he hit Amit Mishra for a straight six in the tenth over. Scoring at more than eleven runs per over and with two batsmen bludgeoning anything that came their way, the Lions appeared poised to post a total in excess of 200.

It was at this stage the wheels came off the Lions innings. The openers were separated in the eleventh over when Imran Tahir pushed one through and Smith (53 from 30 balls, 5 fours, 3 sixes) was declared leg before wicket. McCullum (60 from 36 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes) followed four balls later when he failed to pick a slower yorker from Chris Morris and had his stumps disturbed.

112 for no loss became 117 for 3 when Suresh Raina hit a short delivery on his pads straight to Karun Nair at short fine leg. The Daredevils bowlers used the opportunity to bowl at new batsmen to control the flow of runs and bowled some excellent lines and lengths to eventually restrict the visitors to 172-6.

For the Daredevils, Imran Tahir was the wrecker-in-chief, returning with figures of 3-24 from his four overs. Morris returned with figures of 2-35 from his four overs, while JP Duminy dismissed Ravindra Jadeja in his lone over to return figures of one for four.

When it was their turn to bat, the Daredevils were off to a disastrous start losing their top three in the first four overs. Duminy, batting at number four, and Rishabh Pant, then steadied the innings with a 31-run partnership, although they consumed more than six overs.

The sedate start, followed by a period of resurrection, meant the hosts were always chasing the eight ball. When Morris joined Duminy, the Daredevils were 57 for 4 in the eleventh over, still needing 116 from 56 balls. Morris turned on the heat immediately racing to his half-century in 17 balls – the fastest of the season. The South African hit eight humongous sixes and scored a 32-ball 82 – his highest score in T20 cricket, to bring the home side back in the contest. He was involved in a partnership with Duminy, which lasted 6.3 overs and was worth 87 runs; Morris was the chief contributor in the partnership, contributing 59 from 18 balls. When Duminy (48 from 43 balls) was dismissed at the start of the 18th over, the onus fell on Morris and Pawan Negi to take the team past the finish line. Unfortunately for Morris, despite his special knock, the team finished at 173-5 – two runs short of what they needed for the two points.

For the visitors, Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar were sensational with the ball. Dhawal picked up three wickets in his first three overs and returned to bowl a tidy 16th over, to eventually finish with figures of 3-19, Praveen Kumar three quiet overs in the Powerplay and then a sensational 19th over.