Mumbai: In a nail-biting clash today, Gujarat Lions registered an exciting 3-wicket win over the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the ninth match of the Indian Premier League at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Chasing a target of 144, Gujarat Lions lost Brendon McCullum in the second over with just 12 runs on board.
Aaron Finch (67 not out from 54 runs) then made a crucial 53-run partnership with Suresh Raina (27 off 22 deliveries) for the second wicket.
Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Bravo went back to the pavilion early without contributing much to the team’s score and left Gujarat Lions in trouble 83/4 in the thirteenth over.
Playing a match-saving inning, Finch single-handedly led from the front pushing the team’s score to 133 for 7, requiring another 11 runs to win from the last over.
Finch took two runs on the first delivery of Bumrah’s over and then took a single on the second ball, giving the strike to Dhawal Kulkarni.
Kulkarni, surprisingly smashed a boundary in the extra cover region, thereby taking the required ratio down to 4 runs from three balls.
Aaron Finch then made the winning runs hitting a boundary in the deep midwicket region.
For Mumbai Indians, Mitchell McClenaghan turned out to be the most successful bowler bagging four wickets, whereas Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets.
