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Aaron Finch 50 helps GL reach 162 for 7 against SRH in IPL 2016 Qualifier 2 at Feroz Shah Kotla

Aaron Finch scored a vital 50 and Dwayne Bravo played a late cameo to lead Gujarat Lions to a competitive 162 for 7 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2016 Qualifier 2.

Aaron Finch © AFP
Aaron Finch scored a vital 50 © AFP (File Photo)

Aaron Finch scored a vital 50 and Dwayne Bravo played a late cameo to lead Gujarat Lions (GL) to a competitive 162 for 7 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 Qualifier 2 at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Friday. GL tried to counter their failure in the middle order by shifting two of their openers down the order. Eklavya Dwivedi was promoted to open batting, with Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith batting at Nos 5 and 6 respectively. Having Dwivedi open and Smith bat so low backfired, but Finch helped GL stay afloat after being reduced to 83 for 5. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2016, Qualifier 2 at Delhi

SRH suffered a huge blow before the match with their star bowler Mustafizur Rahman picking up an injury that kept him out of the game. His replacement was Trent Boult, who has not played competitive cricket since the second Test against Australia in February. Boult struck early when he had Suresh Raina out LBW for 1, but his rustiness showed after that. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, meanwhile, continued his excellent run in the tournament when he had Dwivedi slash to Boult at third man. FULL CRICKET UPDATES: Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2016, Qualifier 2 at Delhi

Brendon McCullum was soon joined by Dinesh Karthik and the duo scored at a brisk rate to put on 44. Karthik was the aggressor, scoring 26 off 19 balls with 4 fours and 1 six. The partnership came to an end after a mix-up between both batsmen that resulted in Karthik getting run out. McCullum joined soon after, holing out to Bhuvneshwar off the bowling of Bipul Sharma. McCullum’s 32 came in 29 balls and included 5 fours. Smith did not last long either, and slashed Ben Cutting to Shikhar Dhawan at cover.

Finch then came in and hammered 50 off 32 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. He was bowled by Cutting but not before putting on 51 with Ravindra Jadeja. Bravo then smashed a 10-ball 20 with 4 fours before getting bowled by Bhuvneshwar. Jadeja and Dhawal Kulkarni then took GL to a competitive score of 162 for 7.

Brief scores:

Gujarat Lions 162 for 7 in 20 overs (Aaron Finch 50; Ben Cutting 2 for 20, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2 for 27) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Full Scorecard

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is an animal lover and comic, film and TV geek. A fast bowler at heart, he enjoys watching a good, low-scoring game of cricket. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)

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