Aaron Finch, Gujarat Lions' opener, felt Dwayne Bravo's second over of the spell - where the all-rounder accounted for the wickets of Kings XI Punjab's destructive batsman Glenn Maxwell and captain David Miller - tipped the scales in his team's favour during their tournament opener against the hosts in the Indian Premier League 2016 on Monday (April 11).
"It was the turning point in their batting innings, I think," Finch said in the post-match conference, after Lions scripted a five-wicket win on their IPL debut.
"When you've got two guys like Maxwell and Miller, with the firepower they have got and the six-hitting capability, I suppose, to get them both in the same over, to be able to have two new batters in to dry up (the runs) for a small period there was absolutely crucial."
Kings XI were cruising at 78 for no loss in the ninth over when Ravindra Jadeja got rid of both the set openers - Manan Vohra and Murali Vijay - in his successive overs. It was, however, Bravo's twin strikes in his second over to send Maxwell and Miller back in the hut in the space of three deliveries soon after, that strangled the hosts' innings. The West Indies all-rounder returned in the final over to add two more wickets to his credit and finish with career-best figures of 4 for 22.
"He's been absolutely brilliant for every team that he has played for. For the West Indies, here at Gujarat, even at Chennai (Super Kings) he was fantastic. He's someone who just keeps getting better and better with age and he's not slowing down. He brings so much to the table with bat, ball and field. Very happy that he is on our side," Finch gushed.
For a team that has been put together from scratch, it was a commendable start to the season. Except for probably the first over of their chase, when Brendon McCullum departed for a duck, Lions hardly put a foot wrong. If the bowlers leaked too many runs in the powerplay, Jadeja and Bravo's timely strikes more than made up for it in the middle overs to restrict Punjab to a sub-par 161.
Finch, however, also credited the other bowlers - Praveen Kumar and James Faulkner in particular - for pulling the things back after the team had conceded 52 in the first six overs.
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