MUMBAI, April 16: Nitish Rana smashed 53 before skipper Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten 40 to lead Mumbai Indians to a comfortable six-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here today.
Earlier, Brendon McCullum raced his way to a quickfire 64 while Dinesh Karthik�s cameo provided the late flourish as Gujarat Lions scored a competitive 176 for 4.
The former New Zealand captain laid the foundation while Karthik smashed 48 off 26 balls which was largely responsible in Lions crossing 175-run mark.
The Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper-batsman struck two fours and as many sixes in his breezy knock after McCullum hammered the MI bowlers all round the park, striking six boundaries and three towering sixes.
It was an off day for Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, who replaced Kiwi Tim Southee. Malinga went for 51 in his four overs � his most expensive spell in the tournament.
Put into bat, Gujarat Lions, had a disastrous start losing opener Dwanye Smith for a duck. He gave an easy catch to Nitish Rana at backward point off Mitchell McClenaghan off the very second ball.
Malinga, conceded 12 runs in his first over at the Wankhede track, where the ball came on to the bat. � PTI
SCORECARD
Gujarat Lions: Dwayne Smith c Rana b McClenaghan 0, Brendon McCullum b Malinga 64, Suresh Raina c Sharma b Harbhajan 28, Ishan Kishan c K Pandya b McClenaghan 11, Dinesh Karthik not out 48, Jason Roy not out 14; Extras: (LB-1, W-8, NB-2) 11. Total: (for 4 wickets in 20 overs) 176. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-81, 3-99, 4-153. Bowling: McClenaghan 4-0-24-2, Malinga 4-0-51-1, Harbhajan 4-0-22-1, Bumrah 4-0-45-0,
K Pandya 3-0-18-0, H Pandya 1-0-15-0.
Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel c Roy b Kumar 0, Jos Buttler c McCullum b Patel 26, Nitish Rana c Karthik b Tye 53, Rohit Sharma not out 40, Kieron Pollard c Jadeja b Tye 39, Hardik Pandya not out 6; Extras: (LB-3, W-10) 13. Total: (for 4 wickets in 19.3 overs) 177. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-85, 3-92, 4-160. Bowling: Praveen Kumar 2.3-0-25-1, Basil Thampi 4-0-34-0, Munaf Patel 4-0-35-1, Andrew Tye 4-0-34-2, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-34-0, Dwayne Smith 1-0-12-0. � PTI
