Rajkot: What many though would be a tough encounter for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) turned to be a cakewalk as they defeated hosts Gujarat Lions (GL) by a whopping 10 wickets at the SCA Stadium here, Friday.
Chris Lynn (91 n o, 6×4, 8×6) annihilated the opposition bowling while skipper Gautam Gambhir (76 n o, 48b, 12×4) was at his elegant best as KKR reached the victory target of 184 without losing a single wicket – a T20 world record (WR). Lynn scored his 50 off just 19 balls, the second fastest in his franchise’s history. He took just three balls more than Yusuf Pathan’s record 16-ball 50 a couple of seasons ago.
The match effectively swung KKR’s way in the sixth and seventh overs of the innings. Spinner Shivil Kaushik went for 20 runs with Gambhir hitting him for four boundaries. The next over was worst for the hosts – as Lynn blasted Dwayne Smith for 23 – an over which had three monstrous sixes and a boundary.
After a brief respite, Gambhir took over hitting Manpreet Gony for three boundaries in a 15-run 11th over. However, then Gambhir handed over the baton to Lynn once more and he duly finished off the match in the 15th over with two sixes, a boundary and a couple of couples of the hapless Dhawal Kulkarni. Lynn was lucky though with Brendon McCullum dropping him at long-off – the ball bouncing off his palms over the ropes.
Earlier dropped when on 12 by Kuldeep Yadav off the bowling of Chris Woakes, GL skipper Suresh Raina (68 n o, 51, 7×4) played a scintillating knock to take Gujarat Lions (GL) to a fighting score of 183 for four. Riding on his luck, Raina first put on 50 runs for the second wicket with Brendon McCullum (35, 24b, 4×4, 2×6) and then added another vital 87 runs for the fourth with Dinesh Karthik (47, 23b, 5×4, 2×6) to put his side in a position of strength.
But in the end, ‘Lynnsanity’ prevailed.
Agencies
