Kanpur: Quickfire knocks from skipper Suresh Raina and Brendon McCullum saw Gujarat Lions secure their playoff berth with a six-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in their IPL encounter at Kanpur on Saturday.
With the win, the Lions consolidated their position on top with 18 points, while Mumbai's campaign came to an end.
Raina's explosive knock off 58 off 36 was studded with eight fours and two sixes, while McCullum's 48 off 27 included eight fours and one six. Earlier, Delhi youngster Nitish Rana played the most eventful innings of his nascent career as his scintillating 70 enabled Mumbai Indians post a competitive 172 for 8 against the Lions in the 14th and final group league encounter between the two teams.
Left-handed Rana blasted the Lions attack to hit seven fours and four sixes in only 36 balls. There were useful contributions from skipper Rohit Sharma (30 off 17 balls), Jos Buttler (33 off 31 balls) at the top of the order.
In fact after Rohit's brief onslaught initially, it was Rana-Buttler combination that added 75 runs in 8.5 overs to lay the foundation for a decent total. For Lions, Dwayne Bravo was the best bowler on view with figures of 2/23 in 4 overs with 10 dot balls to his credit. Praveen Kumar (2/24 in 4 overs) was also impressive.
Mumbai Indians did lose momentum after Rana's dismissal as the last three overs produced only 19 runs and they lost four wickets in the bargain. Hardik Pandya (7, 8 balls) wasted precious deliveries at the end.
The MI innings was all about young Rana's coming of age in his first season of IPL cricket (he was in MI squad last year but did not get a chance) and showing that he is one of the cleanest hitters among emerging T20 players in the country.
Having made a name for himself with his six-hitting prowess for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali national T20 meet, Rana finally showed what he is capable of with his muscular shots predominantly on the leg-side.
With fetish for pulling anything short, Rana started by pulling Dhawal Kulkarni towards square leg and then played a few singles. His first release shot was a a slog sweep as he dragged a Ravindra Jadeja delivery over long-on for his first six.
He then muscled Dwayne Smith over 'Cow Corner' for his second six.
He was finally dismissed when he failed to clear the deep square fielder Kulkarni off a Bravo slower one.
