Raipur: Riding on Karun Nair’s unbeaten 83, Delhi Daredevils not only beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets but also kept themselves in the hunt for the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Friday.

Nair, who was dropped on 51 by Hyderabad skipper David Warner, made the opportunity count as his 59-ball knock guided the team home in what turned out to be a nail-biting affair. His innings was laced with eight hits to the fence and three over it.

Chasing 159, Delhi got off to a poor start losing in-form Quinton de Kock (2) cheaply as incoming batsman Nair and opener Rishabh Pant found the going tough against Hyderabad’s disciplined bowling attack to reach 37 in the powerplay.

Left-arm pacer Barinder Sran, who replaced injured Ashish Nehra in the playing XI, gave Sunrisers the perfect start by taking the key wicket of the South African stumper in the very second over.

Nair and Pant batted sensibly to put on 73 runs for the second wicket before a silly mix-up in the 12th over accounted for the southpaw’s run out for a 26-ball 32 which included three hits to the fence.

Nair, who was joined by South African Jean-Paul Duminy, then went on to score his third half-century of the season before David Warner dropped him off Sran.

Duminy, who also got a life on 17 when Bhuvneswar Kumar dropped a sitter at sweeper cover off Mustafizur Rahman, however, failed to make the opportunity count as Warner made no mistake this time around to latch on to the top edge off Sran.

Nair, who put on 35 runs for the third wicket with Duminy, started to break the shackles as the 24-year-old blasted Sran for two mammoth sixes in the same over.

West Indian power-hitter Carlos Brathwaite, who joined the Rajasthan batsman, was unlucky to perish for a seven-ball 10 off a brilliant flying catch by Sran at third man boundary off Rahman.

Needing 16 off the last 10 balls, young Sanju Samson joined Nair and the duo completed the formalities in style, with Nair hitting consecutive boundaries to seal the deal in the hosts’ favour.

For the visitors, Sran and Rahman were the pick of the bowlers picking two and one wicket respectively.

Earlier, Warner headlined with a fine 73-run knock to pull Sunrisers Hyderabad to 158/7 in their 20 overs.

Hyderabad got off to a decent start after Delhi skipper Zaheer Khan sent them in.

The opening partnership of Shikhar Dhawan and Warner took the score to a promising 46 in six overs.

Warner scored bulk of the runs, receiving most of the strike. He eventually hit eight fours and a six in his 56-ball knock.

But the rhythm was snapped when Dhawan (10) was run out because of some athletic fielding by Carlos Brathwaite. He was the most successful bowler, picking up two wickets for 27 runs of his four overs.

The West Indian stopped the ball with his left hand on his follow through and turned around to knock down the stumps while still on the turf, catching an over enthusiastic Dhawan short of his crease.

That triggered a double break, as four balls later, in the next over, Deepak Hooda (1) was run out.

This time Amit Mishra struck with a direct hit on the non-striker’s end after following Warners push towards short cover.

Warner’s responsibility increased after being involved in two run outs of his partners.

He hoped to put together a solid stand with Yuvraj Singh (10).

But the veteran southpaw ragged a away going balls into his stumps to leave his team 66/3 in 9.3 overs.

Warner completed his half century in the 12th over with a single towards midwicket of Brathwaite.

And celebrated it with a huge six over long-on.

Warner partially resurrected the innings with a 24-ball 39 run fourth wicket partnership with fellow Australian Moises Henriques.

But Henriques (18) was dismissed trying to hit a six, caught at the midwicket boundary in the 14th over, reducing his team at 105/4.

But the most pivotal moment of the innings came when Warner was caught at third man by Mishra off Brathwaite in the 16th over.

Eoin Morgan (14) started brightly but also perished soon. Naman Ojha (16 not out) struck some bold shots to guide the team past 150.

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 158/7 (David Warner 73, Moises Henriques 18, Carlos Brathwaite 2/27) vs Delhi Daredevils 161/4 (Karun Nair 83, Rishabh Pant 32, Barinder Sran 2/34).

(IANS)

Bengaluru: Hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) dethroned Kings XI Punjab on early Thursday by 91 runs in a must-win league tie to keep its hopes of a place in play-offs alive in the IPL-9 season at the Chinnaswamy stadium here.

Chasing an imposing target of 212 in 15 overs RCB had set by piling up a whopping 211 for three wickets in 15 overs after heavy rain delayed the match by 110 minutes on Wednesday night, Kings scrambled to make 120 for 9 wickets in 14 overs, when sudden rain again forced the umpires to call off the match.

The third consecutive victory propelled the home team to the second position from fifth position in the points table, with 14 points from seven wins in 13 games by virtue of its record net run rate of +0.926, ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Lions (GL) who all have 14 points each with 7 wins.

Chances of a berth in semis brightening up with a hat-trick of victories, RCB will play its last league tie against Delhi Daredevils on May 22 at Raipur in Chattisgarh to stay on the course.

After RCB’s openers Chris Gayle and skipper Virat Kohli rattled the Kings XI bowlers to register a record 149-run first wicket partnership in 67 balls (11.1 overs), it was the turn of Royal bowlers to dominate the game by unsettling the latter’s batsmen and making the contest one-sided.

As Kings lost wickets at regular intervals, its top and middle order failed again, with Wriddhiman Saha being the top scorer at 24 in 10 balls.

RCB’s only leggi Yuzvendra Chala was the most successful bowler taking four wickets in three overs for 25 runs, while Shane Watson and S. Arvind bagged two each in two overs each.

Earlier, put to bat by Kings XI skipper Murali Vijay who opted to field despite winning the toss, man-of-the-match Kohli set a new record by scoring his fourth century (113 in 50 balls with 8 sixes and 12 fours) in this IPL season and Chris Gayle returned to form by hitting 73 in 32 balls with 8 sixes and four boundaries.

Desperate efforts by Vijay to break the partnership or get either of them out early failed as Kolhi and Gayle were in full cry and batted with disdain.

While the first 50 came in 4.4 overs of the six-over power play, the first 100 of RCB’s innings came in 8.5 overs.

Though Vijay used as many as five bowlers to contain the openers, there was no respite for Kings till Gayle got caught by David Miller of Arshad Patel ball in 11 over when RCB score was 147 on the board.

After in-form AB de Villiers was bowled for a duck in 12th over, keeper K.L. Rahul joined Kohli to take the score to 199 when the skipper was caught by Miller off Sandeep Sharma ball at 113 comprising 8 sixes and 12 fours in just 50 balls.

Rahul and Kohli were involved in a 45-run third wicket partnership in 15 balls.

Rahul remained till the end at 16 not out.

Patel, Sharma and Abbot of Kings shared one wicket each of RCB’s batters.

RCB retained the same team that won by 9 wickets over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Kolkata on May 16, while Punjab made three changes, bringing in Farhaan Behardien, Kyle Abbot and K.C. Cariappa in place of Glen Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Anureet Singh.

(IANS)

The tickets of the VIVO Indian Premier League 2016 Qualifier 1 and Final will be available on www.iplt20.com, on 24th May, 2016.

Kolkata: Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers once again delivered the goods with their bats as their Royal Challengers Bangalore romped home with 9 wickets to spare against Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League (IPL) contest at the Eden Gardens here on Monday.

Kohli and de Villiers remained not out on 75 and 59 respectively while Chris Gayle contributed with a 31-ball 49. The Kohli-de Villiers partnership yielded 115 runs for the men in red and black.

With the win, Bangalore stay alive in the competition with 6 wins from 12 games.

Chasing Kolkata’s 183/5, they got off to a flyer as Gayle – who had been in slumber for much of this season – smashed the ball to all parts of the ground.

The burly Jamaican first took on Andre Russell hitting him for 17 in the third over and then clubbed Sunil Narine for two consecutive fours in the fifth.

After six overs, Bangalore were cruising at 63 for no loss but then Gayle was adjudged leg-before-wicket off a Narine delivery.

It was difficult to understand who the home team were as chants of ‘Kohli, Kohli’ went up time and again around the packed stadium as the Bangalore captain came in – and did not disappoint either as he picked the boundaries at regular intervals. However, Kohli was dropped at 32 by his opposite number Gautam Gambhir.

The miss proved costly as Kohli got to yet another half-century, while his partner at the other end – de Villiers – started clobbering them too.

Before long, the visitors were in touching distance of the total and the duo did the needful with 8 balls to spare.

Earlier twin fifties from Gambhir (51) and Manish Pandey (50) aided by Russell’s late blitz of 19-ball 39 helped Kolkata get to a fighting total.

Even though the hosts lost Robin Uthappa (2) early, Gambhir manage to pick the gaps along with Pandey. By the end of the powerplay, the team was 51/1.

The onslaught continued in the next over as legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal was carved for 16.

Bangalore then pulled things back a little thereafter and also grabbed the vital wicket of Gambhir who got run-out shortly after getting to his fifty.

Thereafter, new man Yusuf Pathan and the already set Pandey failed to pierce the gaps. Runs dried down and Pandey was holed out in the deep trying to up the run-rate. Yusuf (6) too was out stumped.

Next to perish was Suryakumar Yadav (5) who was caught at long on by Iqbal Abdulla. The flurry of wickets also put a brake on the scoring rate much to the relief of Bangalore.

But Shakib Al Hasan and Russell enthralled the strong Eden crowd with some powerhitting to propel Kolkata to such a score. The last three overs yielded 38 runs for the home side.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 183/5 (Gautam Gambhir 51, Manish Pandey 50; Sreenath Aravind 2/41) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: 186/1 (Virat Kohli 75, AB de Villiers 59)

(IANS)

Visakhapatnam: Riding on promising all-rounder Krunal Pandya’s quick-fire 86, followed by an impressive bowling performance, Mumbai Indians outclassed Delhi Daredevils by 80 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Sunday.

Batting first, Krunal smashed his maiden IPL half-century to guide the defending champions to massive 206/4 in 20 overs.

In reply, Delhi lost wickets at regular intervals as they were bundled out for 126 in 19.1 overs. Jasprit Bumrah (3-13) and Krunal (2-15) were the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai while Harbhajan Singh and R. Vinay Kumar claimed one wicket each.

The win ensures Mumbai keep their play-off hopes alive as they climbed to the third spot in the points table.

Chasing an imposing target of 207, Delhi got off to a poor start losing opener Mayank Agarwal (8) in the second over itself.

His opening partner Quinton de Kock (40) played positively from there on but lost partners at the other end as Karun Nair (8), Sanju Samson (6) fell cheaply to have the visitors in trouble at 60/3 in eighth over.

As the required run-rate climbed high with every ball bowled, de Kock trying to up the scoring rate also fell to left-arm spinner Krunal in the 10th over. The South African promising opener in his 28-ball innings struck four boundaries and two sixes.

Incoming young batsmen Rishabh Pant (23) played a short innings but failed to convert the start into a big one as his dismissal came after seamer Bumrah had Jean-Paul Duminy (9) caught by wicket-keeper Jos Buttler in the 13th over.

There was more trouble for the visitors as wickets kept on tumbling and the required rate climbed high to put more pressure on the incoming lower-order batsmen.

Chris Morris played a 16-ball 20 in the end but was not enough as his side surrendered to a dominant Mumbai side.

Earlier put into bat, openers Rohit Sharma (31) and Martin Guptill (48) helped the defending champions get off to a decent start scoring 45 runs without losing any wickets after the completion of powerplay.

But the seventh over of the innings saw a twist in the tale – leg-spinner Amit Mishra brought the first breakthrough dismissing Mumbai skipper Rohit when Mumbai were 46/1 in 6.3 overs.

Hard-hitting left-hander Krunal who was promoted up the order at No.3 to keep the run flow going, did not disappoint his team. He played his natural game, striking a couple of boundaries and sixes to help the team keep a healthy run-rate.

He was well supported on the other end by experienced Kiwi batsman Guptill as the duo played sensibly to help team cross the 80-run mark after 10 overs.

The duo smashed 23 runs in the 13th over bowled by leg-spinner Imran Tahir to take team over 100-run mark in style.

Krunal then – with a couple of big blows – brought up his maiden IPL half-century in just 22 balls.

The impressive 96-run partnership for the second wicket came to an end in the 15th over when Guptill looking to strike one over long on was caught by Karun Nair off the bowling off Zaheer Khan. The hosts were 144/2 then.

Despite wickets at the other end, Krunal smashed it to all parts of the ground, but eventually in the 18th over, Chris Morris finally got rid of the 25-year-old to put a check on the run flow.

During his maiden IPL half-century, the left-handed batsman struck seven boundaries and six sixes.

In the dying overs the innings, Buttler (18 not out) and Ambati Rayudu (13 not out) played useful cameos to take the team past 200-run mark.

Morris (2-34) was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi as the spinning trio of Shahbaz Nadeem (2-42), Amit Mishra (1-42) and Tahir (0-59) proved expensive. Zaheer Khan was economical, having conceded 23 runs in four overs.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians: 206/4 in 20 overs (Krunal Pandya 86; Chris Morris 2/34) vs Delhi Daredevils 126 in 19.1 overs (Quinton de Kock 40; Jasprit Bumrah 3-13, Krunal Pandya 2-15)

(IANS)

Bengaluru: Maverick Royal Challengers batsmen Abraham de Villiers (129) and Virat Kohli (109) pummelled the Gujarat Lions bowling attack to blast electrifying centuries, powering the team to 248/3 in 20 overs at the M. Chinnaswami Stadium here on Saturday.

It literally rained sixes and fours from the blades of the awesome de Villiers-Kohli duo, sending the jam packed stadium into hysterics.

De Villiers who remained unbeaten smashed 12 sixes and 10 fours while Royal Challengers captain Kolhi blasted eight sixes and six fours. Kohli hit a 55-ball-109 while de Villiers smashed a 52-ball-129.

Altogether, RCB cracked 37 boundaries, 17 fours and 20 sixes. Of the total run of 248 scored, 188 emerged from boundaries alone. Other than the two centurions, only Chirs Gayle hit a four.

Kolhi produced the following scoreboard reading in the 19th over off left arm spinner Shivil Kaushik: 6, 4, 6, 6, 6 and 2, totaling 30 runs.

De Villiers and Kohli built a partnership of 229 runs in 97 balls. The intensity of hitting can be comprehended by the way runs flowed. At one time in the last stages of the innings, the duo plundered 47 runs in 14 balls.

Time and again, De Villiers is proving one characteristic he possesses very consistently: hitting the ball as hard as possible in all possible directions irrespective of the bowler, fielding set-up and the situation of the match.

Some of the sixes hit by de Villiers are so unique that only he could hit them. Some of the shots demanding extreme flexibility included a couple of deep sixes near the third man position, rarely seen before.

In the 16th over, de Villiers scored 23 runs, he reached his century in 42 balls with nine boundaries and eight sixes.

Not just boundaries, quick running between the wickets also helped Royal Challengers greatly in grabbing many quick singles and exploiting sloppy fielding by the Gujarat Lions at times.

Actually starting the innings slowly, Royal Challengers could only manage 10/0 after the first three overs, opened by Chirs Gayle and Kohli. After seven overs, RCB were at 50/1.

Hell-bent on ending his run of poor form, Gayle kept it slow, trying to steal quick singles.

Despite exhibiting great discipline, Gayle succumbed to an inside edge off Dhawal Kulkarni in the fifth ball of the fourth over. Dejected, he walked back to the dugout only to continue his single digit innings streak.

Enter de Villiers, and the face of the innings changed with regular boundaries all over the ground with all possible shots.

Unfazed by the slow start, Kohli and de Villiers started piling up runs slowly, De Villiers survived a stumping attempt by Dinesh Karthik in the ninth over.

With a partnership of 56 runs, Kohli and De Villiers scored 76 runs for Royal Challengers half way through the match.

Despite starting his innings much later than Kohli, de Villiers reached his half-century in 25 balls in the 12th over by a four off Kulkarni.

De Villiers reached 99 in the 16th over with a superb six, yet another extreme shot, coming deep off the wicket to hit a six on the on-side.

Until the fall of Kohli in the second last ball off the match, RCB did not lose a wicket after the dismissal of Gayle in the fourth over, manifesting the hard-hitting determination of the centurions in the match.

Interestingly, Kohli reached the milestone of scoring 3,000 IPL runs in this match, to join two other Royal Challengers, de Villiers and Gayle.

Except for Ravindra Jadeja who had figures of 0/34 in four overs, all the other Gujarat Lions bowlers conceeded expensive economy rates ranging between 11 to 16.66.

Left-arm spinner Shivil Kaushik had an economy rate of 16.66, Dwayne Bravo 15.33, and Dwayne Smith 13.

Though Praveen Kumar leaked 45 runs in four overs, he claimed two wickets while Kulkarni was the over bowler claim a wicket, 1/33.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore 248/3 in 20 overs (Abraham de Villiers 129 not out, Virat Kohli 109; Praveen Kumar 2/45, Dhawal Kulkarni 1/33)

(IANS)

Mohali: A valiant effort from Murali Vijay went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) sneaked past Kings XI Punjab by one run in a nail-biting league encounter of the Indian Premier League at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on Monday.

Chasing 175, Vijay led from the front with a brilliant 57-ball 89 supported by an unbeaten 34 from Marcus Stoinis, only to his team to fall short by a run.

Vijay, who opened the innings with Hashim Amla, put on 45 runs for the first wicket as the teamraced to 50 in the powerplay.

Amla, who survived a run-out scare on 19, failed to make the opportunity count as Shane Watson sent the South African packing with a short ball which he mistimed to be caught by Stuart Binny at midwicket. His 20-ball 21 included two boundaries.

Wriddhiman Saha (16), along with Vijay added 43 runs for the second wicket only to be run out by keeper Lokesh Rahul and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal then struck the very next ball to dismiss South African power-hitter David Miller, who failed to disturb the scoreboard.

Stoinis, the architect of Punjab’s previous match’s win against Delhi Daredevils, then joined the skipper, who had completed his half-century of 36 balls, and then went on a spree.

Sensing danger, RCB skipper Virat Kohli employed his old war horse Watson for another spell and the veteran Aussie responded with the much-needed wicket which proved to be the turning point.

Cramped for runs, the Tamil Nadu opener, in his attempt to break the shackles, pulled a short ball from wide of off stump only to be caught by Chahal at the square leg boundary.

Vijay, who added 51 runs with Stoinis for the fourth wicket, consumed 57 balls for his knock, which was laced with 12 boundaries and a six.

With 16 needed off the last over, South African Farhaan Behardien and Stoinis could only add 15.

For the visitors, Watson was the pick of the bowlers with two scalps while Chahal picked one.

Earlier, South African smasher A.B. de Villiers hit a crucially-timed knock of 64 runs to guide RCB to a healthy 175/6.

He was helped in his efforts by Sachin Baby (33 off 29 balls) as they added 88 runs for the fourth wicket.

Legbreak bowler K.C. Cariappa picked up two wickets at the top of the innings (2/16) to become their most successful bowler.

RCB began strongly, putting up 56 in the powerplay without losing a wicket as openers K.L.Rahul (42) and Virat Kohli (20) batted with consummate ease mixing ones and twos with boundaries to score at a fast clip.

Punjab got a chance to break the momentum early, in the third over when Kohli offered a chance after coming down the track to pacer Mohit Sharma but only managed to slice his attempt to backward point. Stoinis however made a hash of the chance.

Rahul added insult to Stoinis’ injury by thrashing three fours and a huge six of the Australian in the next over.

At 61 in seven overs, RCB looked like setting up a big score but the introduction of Cariappa halted their march. He effected a double break in his very first over, off the third and the fifth ball, to account for Rahul and Kohli, respectively.

Punjab completed a turnaround in the next over with left-arm spinner Axar Patel castling Watson (1) to reduce RCB to 67/3 in nine overs.

But De Villers along with Baby guided the team past the 100-run mark in the 14th over, while launching some free-hitting, with Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma receiving some rough treatment as he brought up his half-century in 30 balls.

Brief scores: RCB 175/6 (A.B. de Villiers 64, Sachin Baby 33, K.C. Cariappa 2/16, Sandeep Sharma 2/49) beat Kings XI Punjab 174/4 (Murali Vijay 89, Marcus Stoinis 34, Shane Watson 2/22) by 1 run.

(IANS)

Kolkata: Gujarat Lions came up with an all-round effort to outclass Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) comprehensively with five wickets and 12 balls to spare in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.

With the win, Gujarat go atop the points table with seven wins from 11 outings. Dinesh Karthik top scored for the visitors with a 29-ball 51, while Aaron Finch contributed with a quickfire 29 to their total of 164/5.

Chasing Kolkata’s 158/4, Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCulllum helped Gujarat get off to a bit of a flyer. However, the latter seemed to have edged one-through to the keeper in the second over but there was no appeal from the hosts. The partnership lasted just 5.3 overs but by then the Lions had gathered 42 runs.

Smith (27) was clean bowled by Shakib Al Hasan and then McCullum (29) after smashing Morne Morkel for a 17-run over was out caught at long on. The double blow brought a huge smile on KKR co-owner and Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan who had come in without his son AbRam.

But the innings did not show any signs of running out of steam as Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik got together to knit another brisk partnership. By the end of 10 overs the Lions were comfortably placed at 89/2.

The stand went on for a few more overs which got the Lions closer to the target. But, with 43 runs required, Raina perished trying to hook an Andre Russell delivery.

Finch who came in next did not hang around much and started clobbering the bowlers. He smashed 31 runs off the 15th and 16th over.

Though Brad Hogg got rid of Karthik in the next and Finch got run-out, it was too little too late for the men-in-purple.

Earlier in the evening, Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan’s unconquered fifth wicket stand of 134 rescued KKR after a disastrous start and helped them post a challenging total.

Hasan remained unbeaten with a 49-ball 66, while Pathan carried his bat through with a knock of 63 from 41 deliveries. For the Lions, Praveen Kumar returned figures of 2-19 on a wicket that helped him swing the leather.

Put into bat, it was Uthappa for KKR who started on the right note slamming two back-to-back boundaries of Dhawal Kulkarni. But then in the very next over, veteran pacer Pravin Kumar got rid of Gautam Gambhir and then Manish Pandey.

Barely had KKR recovered from the double jolt, Uthappa, who was looking dangerous, headed back to the dugout. Next it was Suryakumar Yadav who perished as Suresh Raina held onto an incredible slip catch.

After six overs, the Knights were tottering at 28/4.

The hosts finally got hold of some momentum as Pathan hammered Chinaman bowler Shivil Kaushik for 14 runs in the 10th over.

Though it was not easy hitting the long ball in such humid conditions, Pathan managed to pierce the gap time and again. Hasan – dropped by Pravin Tambe in the seventh over – too played his role by giving his partner much of the strike.

The Bangladesh batsman brought up his side’s hundred next in the 16th over with a monstrous six. And Pathan completed his fifty a little later.

Hasan, who had been playing second fiddle finally found his feet in the 18th over as he lofted Dwayne Bravo for two back-to-back sixes.

In the last two overs, KKR amassed 25 runs to finish on a strong note.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): 158/4 (Shakib Al Hasan 66, Yusuf Pathan 63; Praveen Kumar 2-19) vs Gujarat Lions: 164/5 (Dinesh Karthik 51, Aaron Finch 29)

(IANS)

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad inflicted the third consecutive loss on Gujarat Lions with a five-wicket victory to jump to the fourth spot of the IPL at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Friday.

Riding on some brilliant medium pace bowling from Mustafizur Rahman (2/17) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/28), Hyderabad restricted the struggling Gujarat to a paltry 126 for 6 in the league game.

While chasing, Hyderabad opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan remained not out on 47 runs in 40 deliveries and saw the side home with five wickets and an over to spare.

With this win, Hyderabad now have five victories from eight games, whereas second-placed Gujarat have now lost four games in 10 matches. Kolkata Knight Riders lead the standings with 12 points – ahead on net run rate, while Delhi Daredevils have occupied the fourth spot with 10 points from eight matches.

After being asked to bat, Gujarat, coming off two successive defeats, faced some immaculate bowling from Bhuvneshwar and Ashish Nehra. Gujarat were off to a poor start losing the key wicket of West Indian power-hitter Dwayne Smith.

Both Bhuvneshwar and Nehra started with maiden overs from either end to stifle Gujarat’s opening duo of Smith and Brendon McCullum (7).

Feeling the heat in the third over, Smith’s attempt of a flash outside off only resulted in an outside edge to Mustafizur Rahman at short third man.

Coming at No 3, skipper Suresh Raina played some exquisite strokes off Kumar, including a six and a four off consecutive deliveries but succumbed on the last ball of the same over giving the pacer his second wicket. The left-hander’s 10-ball 20 was laced with one four and two sixes.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik looked vulnerable from the start and Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur did not lose any time to sent him back for a golden duck.

Finding no support from the other end, McCullum perished after facing 19 balls to leave the visitors reeling at 34 for 4 in the eighth over.

Australian Aaron Finch and West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo (20) then rescued the innings with a 45-run stand for the fifth wicket. But just when things started falling in line for the visitors, left-arm seamer Barinder Sran struck by removing Bravo.

Ravindra Jadeja (18) then joined Finch, who after being dropped on 31 by Warner at long off, went on to make an unbeaten 51. The left-right combo managed to take the Lions past the 100-run mark by the 18th over before Mustafizur broke the 27-run sixth wicket stand.

With the visitors tottering at 106 for 6 in the 19th over, Praveen Kumar (6) and Finch took the Lions to 126 for 6 in their stipulated 20 overs. Finch’s 42-ball knock was laced with three four and a six.

All the home bowlers maintained a tight line to restrict the flow of runs and pick wickets at regular intervals. Mustafizur and Bhuvneshwar were the pick of the bowlers taking two wickets each while Sran and Henriques chipped in with one wicket apiece.

In reply, David Warner scored a 17-ball 24 run cameo up front to get his team off to a positive start. After right-arm pacer Dhawal Kulkarni dismissed the home captain, Gujarat exerted pressure on the Hyderabad batting line-up with another couple of quick wickets.

New Zealander Kane Williamson (6)’s wicket was picked up by Praveen Kumar, while Dwayne Bravo removed Australian Moises Henriques (16) as they reduced the hosts to 55/3 in 9.2 overs.

Dhawan, who was batting on eighth in 14 deliveries, played a proactive role in driving Hyderabad towards the chase. The left-hander picked majority of his fours towards the square of the wicket and ticked ones and twos.

Meanwhile Yuvraj Singh, making his debut for the Hyderabad franchise, faltered as he was caught by Sangwan of Kulkarni. The stand between Dhawan and Yuvraj lasted for 26 runs as the hosts reached 81/4 in 14 overs.

Deepak Hooda played a useful cameo of 18 runs in 12 deliveries and when he got out – to Bravo.

Dhawan and Naman Ojha crossed their team over the line with ease as they won by five wickets.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Lions 126 for 6 (Aaron Finch 51, Suresh Raina 20, Ravindra Jadeja 18, Mustafizur 2 for 17, Bhuvneshwar 2 for 28). Sunrisers Hyderabad: 129/5 in 19 overs (Shikhar dhawan not out 47, David Warner 24; Dwayne Bravo 2/14, Dhawal Kulkarni (2/17).

(IANS)