Gujarat Lions welcomed the visitors Kolkata Knightriders, with a pitch which would go well with the name of the stadium (Green Park). The pitch was so green that from a distance one won’t be able to differentiate between the pitch and the outfield. It wasn’t a difficult choice for GL as they won the toss and chose to field first.

KKR started decently on a virtually unknown surface. The openers were settling in when the captain Gautam Gambhir, got out to a terrible mix-up. Dwayne Smith bowled very well on a surface, which was offering some assistance to the seamers. He used the length balls very well, as he pried on KKR batsmen’s weakness to play the ball towards the third man region. KKR’s half the side was back in the hut by the 12th over when Smith ended his spell, with extraordinary figures of 4/8. It was once again Yusuf Pathan 36(36) who came to the rescue, along with Suryakumar Yadav 17(14). The two steered KKR to a respectable total after their batting collapse. There was no late blitz in the innings, as Andre Russell was injured. KKR huffed and puffed to reach a total of 124/8.

KKR started with a lot of promise, as they got D Smith off the very first ball. They then got the dangerous McCullum, who was hitting the pacers for sixes, dancing down the track. GL were in a spot of bother, with the score at 38/3 in the 4th over. The skipper who returned after the birth of his baby kept his calm and added 59 runs with the inform Aaron Finch. The skipper galloped to his fifty and stayed till the end to guide his team to an easy victory. The GL batsmen finished the game in just 13.3 over’s, which will do some good to their negative run-rate.