KXIP’s Hashim Amla. Pic/AFP
A fine century by Kings XI Punjab’s Hashim Amla (104) went in vain as Gujarat Lions beat the hosts by six wickets at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here last night. Dwayne Smith’s 74 and skipper Suresh Raina’s 39 helped the Lions overcome KXIP’s 189-3 with two balls to spare. Dinesh Karthik (35 not out) was the other leading score for the visiting Gujarat outfit.
Earlier, Amla played a brilliant knock to notch up his second century of the ongoing IPL and powered Kings XI Punjab to a challenging 189 for three after Gujarat won the toss and put the hosts in.
Amla, thus, became the second batsman after Virat Kohli to register two centuries in a single IPL season.
Amla made 104 off just 60 balls with the help of eight fours and five huge hits over the fence to take Kings XI into a strong position.
He was ably supported by Australian Shaun Marsh (58 off 43 balls), and together the duo shared 125 runs for the second wicket to set the platform for a promising total.
Towards the end, skipper Glenn Maxwell remained unbeaten on 20 off 11 balls.
Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab 189-3 in 20 overs (H Amla 104, S Marsh 58, G Maxwell 20*; D Kulkarni 1-24) lost to Gujarat Lions 192-4 in 19.4 overs (D Smith 74, S Raina 39, D Karthik 35*; S Sharma 2-29) by six wickets