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New Delhi: Chris Morris’s 32-ball 82 goes in vain as Gujarat Lions (GL) edge out Delhi Daredevils (DD) by 1 run in Match 23 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016.
Earlier, DD won the toss and elected to bowl.
GL openers McCullum and Smith grabbed the DD bowlers by their collar and took them to the cleaners. The duo scored fastest 50-run stand of IPL 9 off just 23 balls. They couple meaty blows with cheeky ones and put DD on the back foot.
They stitched up 112-run partnership for the first wicket and laid foundation for the middle-order batsman.
However, DD wrestled back in style as they sent McCullum, Smith and Suresh Raina in quick succession.
While McCullum was castled with a peach of slower ball, Raina was hunted down with a well-directed bouncer by Chris Morris. What looked like a one-sided game suddenly turned in DD’s favour.
To make matters worse for GL, wily leg-spinner Imran Tahir dismissed Karthik and debutant Ishan Kishan in consecutive balls. Nonetheless, all-rounder James Faulkner gave finishes touches, as GL posted 172 runs on the scoreboard.
GL bowlers were right on the money and swung the ball both ways. Given this, Quinton de Kock played with caution and put a price on his wicket. However, Sanju Samson showed signs of aggression and holed out to Faulkner at mid on. Both Praveen Kumar and Samson bowled tight spell and kept de Kock’s onslaught at bay.
Eventually, de Kock fell prey to Kulkarni’s change of pace and experienced a rare failure. To add to DD’s misfortune, Kulkarni sent Deepak Hooda to the dug out.
However, debutant Rishabh Pant looked in ominous touch and spanked 20 off just 17 balls before he middled a length ball straight to the hands of Kumar at deep square leg.
The onus was then on veteran Duminy and Chris Morris to take the team over the time. Duminy started the onslaught by spanking a six and a four in Jadeja’s first over.
Then, Morris went berserk and set the roaring Feroz Shah Kotla on fire. He scythed 6 mammoth sixes to bring up his maiden IPL half-century off just 17 balls. He went berserk and kept clearing the boundary. GL made a good comeback as Bravo outfoxed Duminy with change of pace
Along with the colossal sixes, records kept tumbling. His 8-six cameo is the second most by a DD batsmen in IPL (first being Kevin Pietersen with 9 sixes). Moreover, this was the highest score by a No. 4 batsman.
Brief scores
Gujarat Lions - 172/6 (McCullum 60, Smith 53, Tahir 3-24)
Delhi Daredevils - 171/5 (Morris 82*, Duminy 48, Kulkarni 3-19)
Result - Gujarat Lions won by 1 run
