Gujarat Lions won their debut game in the Indian Premier League, chasing down Kings XI Punjab's 161/6 quite comfortably, with five wickets and 13 deliveries in hand.
Punjab would be disappointed with the result after the kind of start they got. They were motoring along at 78/0 in just over nine overs with openers Murali Vijay (42 off 34) and Manan Vohra (38 off 23) going strong. However, Dwayne Bravo's introduction precipitated a batting collapse as Punjab collapsed to 101/4. Handy cameos from Wriddhiman Saha and Marcus Stonis took Punjab to a respectable 160-plus score, as Bravo finished with 4/22 in his four overs.
Gujarat lost Brendon McCullum off the sixth ball of the innings, but Aaron Finch (74 in 47 balls) and Suresh Raina (20 off 9 balls) got the Lions on track with a blazing start. Dinesh Karthik then played an anchoring role to take the Lions home.
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