IPL 9, GL vs KKR as it happened: Raina fifty guides Gujarat Lions to six-wicket win

Gujarat Lions in this IPL:
Batting first: Won 1, Lost 3
While chasing: Won 7, Lost 2#GLvKKR

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 19, 2016

#GL becomes the second team to reach 16 points...don't recall an IPL when 16 wasn't enough to qualify. Well played. 👏😊

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 19, 2016

After 13 overs,Gujarat Lions 119/4 ( Suresh Raina (C) 52 , Ravindra Jadeja 6)

Raina-esque. Excellent. Raina gets down on one knee, and drives over mid-off, how many times have we seen him do this. It’s just as beautiful evrytime. He brings up his 50 with that beauty. 52 off 33, 7 fours and a six.

After 11 overs,Gujarat Lions 107/4 ( Suresh Raina (C) 45 , Ravindra Jadeja 1)

Raina lets it out on Holder and hits back-to-back fours. Two short balls, Raina pulls both of them to square leg and then midwicket. Raina has finally learnt to play a short ball. Need 18 runs off 54.

After 9 overs,Gujarat Lions 87/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 34 , Aaron Finch 19)

The Lions cruising here. Raina and Finch just a run away from a 50-partnership. And it has been brisk. Just 38 needed from 11 overs. GL are heading for an easy win.

After 7 overs,Gujarat Lions 71/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 28 , Aaron Finch 10)

Very expensive over. 5 wides and then a four. Raina gets lucky and finds an edge on 145kmph ball, it races to third man. 16 runs off the over. GL going steadily now.

Mr IPL.

Suresh Raina in IPL:
- Second to 1000 runs
- First to 2000 runs
- First to 3000 runs
- Second to 4000 runs#GLvKKR

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 19, 2016

After 6 overs,Gujarat Lions 55/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 22 , Aaron Finch 7)

SIX! Raina executes the inside-out drive, lofted high, again. This one clears the rope. Raina takes back the IPL runs crown from Kohli, crosses 4000 IPL runs. Raina and Finch need to build up a partnership. 70 needed from 14 overs, not a big ask.

After 4 overs,Gujarat Lions 39/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 13 , Aaron Finch 1)

OUT! Karthik is bowled by Morkel on 12. Karthik played a peach of a shot just the previous ball, a classy punch off the backfoot through the covers. Morkel responds in kind and equal class. The ball slips through the huge gap between bat and body and takes out the timber. Aaron Finch the new man in.

After 3 overs,Gujarat Lions 28/2 ( Suresh Raina (C) 13 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 2)

Typical Raina. The skipper makes room gets down on his back knee and plays that inside-out he’s known for. Over the covers for four.

After 20 overs,Kolkata 124/8 ( Sunil Narine 2 , Morne Morkel 1)

KKR manage 124/8 from 20 overs, not enough considering IPL standards. Smith did all the damage today. 4-0-8-4 on the night. KKR need a similar performance from their ranks to have a chance at this one.

After 19 overs,Kolkata 120/7 ( Jason Holder 12 , Sunil Narine 0)

OUT! Yusuf Pathan is gone after making 36. That was a soft and sluggish dismissal. Full toss outside off, and Pathan lunges to send it straight to Raina at extra cover. Just one more over left for KKR to make this competitive.

After 18 overs,Kolkata 116/6 ( Yusuf Pathan 32 , Jason Holder 12)

Holder lets lose this time and takes his his fellow West Indian Bravo to the cleaners. The six was a massive one, 95 metres into the crowd. Full delivery from Bravo, begging to be slogged, got its wish.

After 17 overs,Kolkata 103/6 ( Yusuf Pathan 31 , Jason Holder 1)

SIX & OUT! Suryakumar Yadav departs on 17. He hits Jakati for an inside-out six and just the next ball he goes for a sweep and gets a top edge. Kulkarni takes a simple catch at fine leg. Jaosn Holder the new man in.

After 15 overs,Kolkata 83/5 ( Yusuf Pathan 24 , Suryakumar Yadav 5)

Pathan finally unleashes the monster within. He hits a four and six back to back. Yusuf hammers it to the long-off boundary, the first boundary since the end of powerplay, a much needed one. The next ball, he makes some room and tonks it over long on. 14 runs off the over. KKR finally get a jog on.

After 14 overs,Kolkata 69/5 ( Yusuf Pathan 12 , Suryakumar Yadav 3)

KKR have taken their foot off the accelerator. Just 8 runs from the last two overs.

After 12 overs,Kolkata 61/5 ( Yusuf Pathan 7 , Suryakumar Yadav 0)

OUT! Shakib is sent packing on 3, Smith’s on fire, he gets his fourth wicket on the night. Short ball did the trick, Shakib tried to play the upper cut, and found Dwivedi at third man. Onus now on big-man Pathan.

After 9 overs,Kolkata 54/3 ( Piyush Chawla 11 , Yusuf Pathan 4)

Strategic time-out. KKR trudging along after early stumbles. Chawla and and Yusuf Pathan need to go big or go home here. The latter lives by the same mantra. Meanwhile in Headingly, it’s a rather long tea-break for the men in white. It’s raining (it’s England) and the final session has been delayed.

Inzamam would be proud.

Gambhir has been run out 21 times in T20s - most by a batsman, goes past Jayawardene's 20 such dismissals. #GLvKKR

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 19, 2016

After 5 overs,Kolkata 36/2 ( Robin Uthappa (W) 23 , Piyush Chawla 2)

OUT! Manish Pandey doesn’t last long. He chases a full and wide one from Smith, but only gets enough bat on it to send it to Raina in the slips. Pandey departs after making a solitary run. Piyush Chawla has been promoted up.

After 4 overs,Kolkata 34/1 ( Robin Uthappa (W) 23 , Manish Pandey 1)

Uthappa, meanwhile, is carrying on unperturbed. Brilliant shot on that last delivery to bring up the first six of the innings. Glancing Kulkarni off his pads for maximum over midwicket. Hard to top that off. Manish Pandey the new man in.

After 3 overs,Kolkata 23/0 ( Robin Uthappa (W) 13 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 8)

DROPPED, again. Gambhir gets a life-line for the second time. He edges a short one going wide, and Smith dives but fails to hold on to the ball in the slips. It seems PK has been bit by Karma. This could prove costly for Lions. PK has left the field due to injury he sustained during his attempted catch.

After 2 overs,Kolkata 16/0 ( Robin Uthappa (W) 7 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 7)

Dhawan Kulkarni comes in to bowl the second over, but is punished by the KKR openers. Right off the first ball, Uthappa plays a peach of a drive through covers, punching the ball in the gap for four. Then Gambhir picks up a length ball and sends it over mid-off for another boundary. To add insult to injury, PK missed a simple catch at mid-on, he misjudged it and in the end was just grasping at straws,

After 1 overs,Kolkata 3/0 ( Robin Uthappa (W) 2 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 1)

Cautious start by KKR openers. Meanwhile Jonny Bairstow has reached his seventh fifty in Test cricket for England, 51 off 60 balls, in the first Investec Test between England and Sri Lanka at Headingley. Bairstow and Alex Hales have hit half-centuries to lead England’s recovery after debutant Shanaka scalped three wickets in the first session itself.

Uthappa has reached a milestone.

Robin Uthappa becomes the 5th Indian to score 5000 runs in T20 cricket. Kohli, Raina, Rohit and Gambhir are the others. #GLvKKR

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 19, 2016

A new battle ground.

This is the first ever T20 match at Green Park stadium in Kanpur. #GLvKKR

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 19, 2016

.@TheGujaratLions boys are warming-up ahead of their game against @KKRiders in Kanpur #GLvKKR #VIVOIPLhttps://t.co/Fe3hCpuimS

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2016