Lynnsanity runs wild in IPL

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Aussie demolition man Chris Lynn helped power the Kolkata Knight Riders to an incredible ten wicket victory over the Gujarat Lions with some vicious hitting.

The Lions innings was something of a comedy of errors from both sides which appeared to have left the match hanging in the balance with KKR chasing 184 to win.

In the end they were shown to be perhaps 60-70 runs light and even that may not have been enough to stop Lynn.

Up front for the Gujarat Lions Jason Roy made his debut but could only register 14 before getting out to a rank long hop from Piyush Chawla.

Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina gave the men from Gujarat a solid platform though with the Kiwi smashing 35 off 24 balls before being trapped leg before by left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav leaving them 72 for 2.

Skipper Raina played a great anchor role finding good support from Dinesh Kartik (47) after the departure of Aaron Finch (15) who batted at four.

Raina’s men wouldn’t have been too displeased with the 183 for 4 they posted but couldn’t have seen the Lynn blitz coming.

Lynn hit 93 not out off just 41 balls whacking six fours and eight sixes and was in devastating form.

He was dropped twice in succession as the Knight Riders neared the victory target but in the end he and Gautum Gambhir (76*) would see their team home and record the highest successful runs chase with all ten wickets in hand in the IPL.

Winning skipper Gambhir said after the match: “Gambhir: You can’t ask for more from Lynny. He took a lot of pressure off me. The bowlers also did a fantastic job. I always feel that somebody who can take the ball both ways will be crucial.

“We have Kuldeep, Chawla. We are going to give Lynny a longer run. Hopefully he can keep smacking it. These are early days in the tournament – the dropped catches were there – but we need to be proactive in the fielding.

“We all know how dangerous he is, and hopefully we can play around him. We have just one day to recover and we will have to bring our A game against Mumbai in Mumbai.”

Lynn was staying grounded after his hitting display saying: “To hit the ball a long way is my role. Touch wood and I enjoy the role. At the end of the day, it is about preparation. I like the spot at the top, the ball is coming on.

“I am used to the ball coming on at home. Gauti is such a good player of spin, I can turn the strike to him and I can handle the quicks. One good innings does not make a summer.”

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