Published: May 21, 2016, 11:44 PM (IST)
Edited: May 22, 2016, 04:27 PM (IST)
Rohit Sharma starts well: Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma looked on a different plane at the start of the innings. He slammed a 17-ball 30 that was studded with 4 fours and 2 sixes, hammering Dhawal Kulkarni to all ends of Kanpur. Rohit blasted 30 of the 33-run opening stand with Martin Guptill. His dismissal significantly slowed proceedings for MI. For as long as he was batting, it seemed like MI would possibly get to 200 and Rohit to 100. Sadly, his knock ended all too quickly. Full Cricket Scorecard: Gujarat Lions vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2016, Match 54 at Kanpur
Nitish Rana blazes away: Not many people would have heard of Nitish Rana, but those who have seen him up close have attested his incredible ability. The Delhi-born southpaw is still in his early days of professional cricket, but he batted like a veteran after being promoted to No. 3 for MI. He took over from where Rohit left off; and despite the wickets of Guptill for a 9-ball 7 and Krunal Pandya for a 3-ball 4, he continued his blitz. Nitish played a similar knock to what Krunal had a few days ago. Nitish smashed 70 off 36 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes. He scored 70 out of the 120 runs scored while he was at the crease. Full Cricket Blog: Gujarat Lions vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2016, Match 54 at Kanpur
GL bowlers come back well: After being put to the sword by Rohit, Dhawal Kulkarni ended up having the last laugh when Rohit pulled one firmly but straight to the fielder in the deep, Shadab Jakati. He later struck with the wicket of Kieron Pollard as well, before the West Indian could get going. Praveen Kumar, Dwayne Smith, and Dwayne Bravo finished off with a couple of wickets each as well.
Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina save the day: Aaron Finch was out LBW off the second ball of the innings to help MI to a great start. However, Brendon McCullum and No. 3 Suresh Raina ensured that there would be no further early jolts. The duo targeted Purple Cap holder Mitchell McClenaghan and ended up taking the other bowlers apart as well. Only Vinay was left with respectable figures as the partnership produced 96 runs inside 10 overs. McCullum was finally dismissed for 48 off 27 balls with 8 fours and 1 six, while Raina was dismissed for a 36-ball 58 which included 8 fours and 2 sixes.
Dwayne Smith smashes it: Having dropped down the order to No. 5, Smith had the freedom to play a different kind of innings to what he is used to while opening. Smith ensured that GL ended up on the winning side as he slammed an unbeaten 37 off 23 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes. Ravindra Jadeja too scored an unbeaten 21 off 15 balls with 4 fours.
Gujarat Lions qualify and help Sunrisers Hyderabad succeed too: Gujarat Lions were on 16 points at the start of the match, behind Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) also with 16 points. The points table was wide open with the possibility of 5 teams finishing off on 16 points each that would have caused the Net Run-Rate to come into play. With GL winning, they qualified; and in doing so, helped SRH qualify as well.
