IPL 9: Dhoni's Supergiants beaten as Raina's Lions roar at Rajkot

Rajkot Suresh Rainas Gujarat Lions registered an impressive sevenwicket win against MS Dhonis Rising Pune Supergiants at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium last night in their first IPL9 match on home turfGujarat Lions Brendon McCullum L watched by Rising Pune Supergiants captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni plays a shot during the 2016 Indian Premier LeagueIPL match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on ThursdayGujarat openers Aaron Finch 36ball 50 with 7x4s amp 2x6s and Brendon McCullum 31ball 49 with 3x4 amp 3x6s began brilliantly and consequently took the game away from Dhonis men who earlier failed to make the most of winning the toss and putting themselves in on a battingfriendly pitchSkipper Raina 24 off 24 balls and Dwayne Bravo 22 off 10 balls were the other chief contributors with the bat as the home side won in 18 overs Spinner Murugan Ashwin with 231 was the pick of the lot from a mostly unsuccessful Pune attack Earlier Supergiants scored 163 for five in 20 oversTambes turnThough Ajinkya Rahane did not last long it was he who set the pace of scoring making 21 off 17 balls with four fours before the ageless Pravin Tambe flummoxed him in front of the wicket By then the platform was ready for Kevin Pietersen to play a long overdue characteristic aggressive inningsPietersen found an ideal partner in Faf du Plessis who was already in his element when Pietersen arrived at the wicket The two batted with gay abandon and executed a wide range of shots all round the wicket No bowler save Tambe was able to make any impact on the duo as the Supergiants reached 100 in only 115 oversGujarat Lions Dwayne Bravo L reacts after taking the wicket of Rising Pune Supergiants Kevin Pietersen during the 2016 Indian Premier League IPL match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday PicAFPDu Plessis was more aggressive of the two The South African completed his 50 in 33 balls with four fours and three sixes Pietersen looked set to play a big innings when Dwayne Bravo bowled him with his customary slower ball for 37 31 balls 2 fours 1 six The two added 86 runs for the crucial second wicket in 101 oversPietersens dismissal seemed to disturb the rhythm of Du Plessis who was going great guns till then stepped out a bit too much against the clever Tambe only to be stumped by Dinesh Karthik for an enterprising 69 43 balls five fours four sixes The two quick wickets revitalised Gujarat Lions particularly Ravindra Jadeja who immediately struck and had the always dangerouslooking Steven Smith caught by James Faulkner for 5Jadeja deliversThe Supergiants were 141 for 4 after 18 overs and much depended on Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Mitchell Marsh to lend some respectability to the score But Jadeja different ideas He dealt a crushing blow to the Supergiants aspirations when he bowled the Aussie for seven Jadeja finished with impressive figures of 40182However Dhoni tried his best and might and hammered Bravo for 20 runs in the 20th over to take his teams eventual total to 163 for 5 But for his lusty blows the Supergiants would probably not have reached even 150 He remained unconquered on 22 10 balls 2 fours 1 six