Kings XI Punjab vs Gujarat Lions, IPL 2016 as it happened

That's it! In their first IPL match, Gujarat Lions have eased to a five wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab, who have now lost nine of their last 10 matches in this competition.

Gujarat Lions win by 5 wickets

18th over – Gujarat Lions 162-5

Bravo nudges Sharma's delivery wide for a single, adding another outside off stump. Are they going to edge their way over the finishing line, or end with a bang? Obviously the latter. Karthik hammers through to midwicket to give Gujarat Lions victory on their IPL debut!

17th over – Gujarat Lions 155-5

Gujarat Lions need 19 from these final four overs and Karthik isn't hanging around, hammering another tremendous four wide of mid-off. He's lucky off the next ball, however, after breaking for a single as a bullseye from the third man just misses the stumps.

After a dot ball, the impressive Kishan hammers another four over mid-wicket, but his impressive cameo ends with the next ball after his wild edge is caught by Mohit Sharma. Enter Dwayne Bravo, but it's Karthik who ends the over with another excellent low drive for four.

WICKET! Kishan (11) c Mohit Sharma b Mitchell Johnson

16th over – Gujarat Lions 142-4

Kishan thinks he's hit one clear for four but it just doesn't have the pace on it and settles for a two. He makes up for that off the very next ball, meeting Sahu's delivery with a smart reverse sweep for his first boundary of the day.

15th over – Gujarat Lions 134-3

Terrific footwork from Mitchell Johnson! Karthik makes a risky break for a single and Jadeja is never going to get there in time. Johnson is there is clean up, side-footing the ball back off the stumps. Good over from Johnson, limiting Gujarat to just four runs.

WICKET! Jaedja (8) run out (Mitchell Johnson

14th over – Gujarat Lions 130-3

After another time out, we are back underway. Jaedja thinks he has struck a boundary but some excellent fielding from Mitchell Johnson keeps it in. Karthik manages it, however, meeting Sahu's delivery with a wonderful reverse sweep that races out for a four.Gujarat are closing in on that target here.

13th over – Gujarat Lions 121-3

12th over – Gujarat Lions 117-3

Karthik sweeps a lovely four away before Finch adds another, but he was cutting it very close there, flicking one just out of reach of Anureet Singh at point. He got away with that one, but off the next ball he is gone after he is stumped by Saha. He leaves the crease, absolutely furious with himself.

WICKET! Finch (74) st Wriddhiman Saha b Pardeep Sahu

11th over – Gujarat Lions 107-2

Guess what? Finch has hit another four. It's another tremendously clever shot from him, watching a short delivery all the way and lifting it over with an uppercut.

10th over – Gujarat Lions 98-2

Finch can do no wrong in this innings. Sahu's delivery comes in and he absolutely leathers one down mid-wicket, before he and Karthik knock down three more careful singles. Kings XI need to start taking wickets.

9th over – Gujarat Lions 89-2

8th over – Gujarat Lions 83-2

More sublime batting from Finch, watching a slow delivery all the way and nudging it away between two fielders for another four. Another slow delivery from Stoinis comes Finch's away and yet again, he knocks it away with ease, driving it down the line to seal his 50. Anything else from Gujarat from this over? Yep. On the last ball, Karthik meets a full toss with another low drive out to the boundary.

7th over – Gujarat Lions 68-2

Karthik enters the fray and drives a precise effort outside off stump for a boundary. That man again Finch adds yet another four to his tally, sending one that has just enough pace on it rolling past short fine leg, notching up another single after to finish the over.

6th over – Gujarat Lions 57-2

Raina whacks a monster six over midwicket but off the next ball, he is out of here, not getting enough on his scooped effort with Mitchell Johnson catching. Finch makes up for that with yet another four, sending a fine low drive outside off stump.

WICKET! Suresh Rainia (20) c Mitchell Johnson b Marcus Stoinis

5th over – Gujarat Lions 45-1

Another four from Finch early in the fifth over, sending a precise drive scurrying past the third man. Two wide deliveries from Johnson follow before Rainia sends a single down outside off stump.

4th over – Gujarat Lions 36-1

Finch batters another four out wide of mid on and follows it up with another on the very next ball, hammering Sharma's shorter delivery through mid-wicket. Sharma tries to keep a lid on the batsman off his remaining four balls but Rainia cleverly knocks a slow ball down past short fine leg to make it three boundaries from this over.

3rd over – Gujarat Lions 23-1

Ooof, huge hit from Raina! The skipper lifts a wonderful straight drive down the line and over the stands; a first six for the new franchise.

2nd over – Gujarat Lions 12-1

Finch whacks one high into the air but it doesn't have enough pace to take it to the boundary and the fielders can gather. Finch catches Mitchell Johnson's next ball a lot better, getting underneath it to heave one over point for a boundary. Johnson vs Finch looks like it's going to be a great duel, but the latter is getting the better of it so far, finding a neat pull shot to notch up another four.

1st over - Gujarat Lions 1-1

Scare for Finch off the third ball as shouts of lbw ring out but the ball is always too high. He sneaks a single off Sharma's fifth ball but a huge wicket follows with McCullum taking a big swing and a miss, allowing Saha to gather and dismiss him.

WICKET! McCullum (0) st Wriddhiman Saha b Sandeep Sharma

Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum open for Gujarat Lions. Here we go...

Mid-innings break

Gujarat Lions require 162 runs to win

20th over – Kings XI 161-6

Kings XI want to end with a bang but Bravo is causing havoc on this final over, with his slow delivery forcing Saha to spoon one into Jadeja's hands before Stoinis loops a high one straight to Finch. Bravo should have a hat-trick as Axar lifts a poor shot straight up in the air, only for Ladda to drop the easiest catch you will see this week.

WICKET! MP Stoinis (33) c Aaron Finch b Dwayne Bravo

WICKET! Saha (20) c Ravindra Jadeja b Dwayne Bravo

19th over – Kings XI 155-4

Let off for Saha as he scoops one out but despite Kishan's best efforts, he can't quite make the catch. Saha adds another two before Stoinis drives a big boundary away outside off stump to bring the tally to nine runs from this over.

18th over – Kings XI 146-4

Saha hammers a straight drive down the line that clatters into the stumps before almost taking out the umpire! Some smart fielding from Bravo prevents Saha from getting anything better than single following a full toss, but Kings XI find the breakthrough with the final ball as Stoinis scoops a clever boundary over his shoulder past fine leg.

17th over – Kings XI 136-4

16th over – Kings XI 130-4

Just five more runs from the over, concluded with a two runs from Stoinis after a low drive on leg stump.

15th over – Kings XI 125-4

Kings XI have rediscovered those big fours that have deserted them for the last few overs, with Stoinis smashing one wide outside off stump. Saha hesitates over whether to go for a single, eventually deciding against it, but needs to launch himself back across to get across the line only for his bat to deflect a Gujarat Lions clear of the stumps! Lucky, that.

14th over – Kings XI 114-4

Bravo has the ball again but Saha chalks up another single off a full toss outside off stump, with Stoinis doing likewise at short length. Bravo tries to mix it up with a bounces but Stoinis reads it brilliantly, sweeping it behind fine leg for four.

13th over – Kings XI 107-4

Five singles from Kings XI in this over that saw Stoinis just about get back across the line in time and avoid a stumping.

12th over – Kings XI 102-4

A tame over bursts into life as DJ Bravo launches a brilliant yorker that bewilders Maxwell and smashes the stumps. Saha comes in and sneaks a single off stump but Bravo isn't done here yet, launching a brilliant slow ball that dismisses Miller for 15. Suddenly, Gujarat Lions are bouncing.

WICKET! Miller (15) b Dwayne Bravo

WICKET! Glenn Maxwell (2) b Dwayne Bravo

11th over – Kings XI 98-2

Jadeja lashes one down the line that tempts Vijay into a big swing, but he is beaten by the delivery and he is gone! Both Kings XI openers are gone but Miller is still around and smashes an enormous six high into the sky on middle stump.

WICKET! Vijay (42) b Ravindra Jadeja

10th over – Kings XI 87-0

DJ Bravo takes the ball and it is a much better over from Gujarat Lions following Vohra's departure.

9th over – Kings XI 82-0

Vohra smashes the third six of this game off the first ball of this over but Gujarat Lions finally make their mark on this contest, dismissing the rampant batsman two balls later. Miller comes into replace him and after a no ball, gets in on the act with a neat four, turning Jadeja's delivery around the corner and sending it trickling out to the boundary.

WICKET! Vohra (38) c Dinesh Karthik b Ravindra Jadeja

8th over – Kings XI 71-0

Ooof, huge six from Vohra, a poor full toss come in from Ladda and the Kings XI batsman eagerly accepts, smashing it full length off stump. Ladda's next ball is a slower one, but again Vohra is ready for it, swiping it clear for a boundary.

7th over – Kings XI 57-0

Jadeja takes over with the ball and his introduction has the desired effect; no boundaries in this over. Gujarat Lions needed that.

6th over – Kings XI 45-0

Vohra slogs one out to his left but a fielder is across to prevent another boundary. Not for long, however. Vijay is now back on the scene, heaving another fine four over mid-on to push Kings XI beyond the 50-mark. The batsman is almost gone off the next ball from Ladda, however, but survives on appeal.

5th over – Kings XI 45-0

Faulkner comes in to try and steady the Gujarat ship, but now Vohra is in on the act, driving straight down the line for yet another four. Vohra then meets the third ball with a huge lift, but it hasn't got the legs and Dwayne Bravo leaps across to catch, but drops it! To be fair to Bravo, that would have had to be an extraordinary take having ran out from mid-wicket to get it, but he couldn't quite hold onto it.

An all-action over ends with two more big fours from Vohra, Kings XI are rampant at the minute. Boundaries for everyone.

4th over – Kings XI 31-0

Another four from Vijay! He clips an exquisite effort over to his left, sending it bouncing away over the boundary. Off his next shot, a fielder denies him another four, but makes Gujarat pay with another low drive to the boundary off the fifth. Sangwan doesn't know how to deal with him at the minute.

3rd over – Kings XI 20-0

After that big second over, Gujarat try to calm things down a bit in the third, reducing Kings XI to three singles off the first four. But then Murali Vijay adds to his increasingly growing tally with another fine low drive off stum. Excellent start from him

2nd over – Kings XI 13-0

Sangwan takes the ball for the second over and off his third ball there are cries of lbw, but it's too high up Vijay's leg. After that scare, Vijay smashes big six outside off stump, hammering just far enough into cover. He follows that up with a four, driving low outside off stump out of the reach of the fielders. Now we're cooking.

2ndd over – Kings XI 13-0

Sangwan takes the ball for the second over and off his third ball there are cries of lbw, but it's too high up Vijay's leg. After that scare, Vijay smashes big six outside off stump, hammering just far enough into cover. He follows that up with a four, driving low outside off stump out of the reach of the fielders. Now we're cooking.

1st over – Kings XI 3-0

Vohra scrapes a couple of singles off Kumar's delivery, a very steady first over for the Gujarat bowler.

Murali Vijay will open for Kings XI alongside Manan Vohra. Praveen Kumar will throw Gujarat Lions's first IPL ball.

Confirmed teams

Gujarat Lions: Finch, B McCullum, S Raina, D Karthik, DJ Bravo, R Jadeja, J Faulkner, I Kishan, P Kumar, P Sangwan, S Ladda

Confirmed teams

Kings XI Punjab: M Vohra, M Vijay, G Maxwell, W Saha, D Miller, A Patel, MP Stoinis, P Sahu, M Johnson, M Sharma, Sandeep Sharma

BREAKING: Gujarat Lions win the toss and elect to field first.

From being as billed as the most exciting team in the competition in 2014 to being the worst in 2015, it's been a few years of contrast for Kings XI Punjab. Here is a look back on their recent IPL form and what lies ahead of them this year.

While we wait for that, here is our Gujarat Lions preview.

Confirmed line-ups are expected in the next 15 minutes or so, here's our probable sides until then.

Kings XI Punjab

Possible XI: Shaun Marsh, Murali Vijay, David Miller (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Axar Patel, Kyle Abbott, Anureet Singh, Manan Vohra.

Gujarat Lions

Possible XI: Suresh Raina (c), Brendon McCullum (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Aaron Finch, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Pravin Tambe, Dale Steyn, Pravin Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan.

Kings XI Punjab suffered a fairly miserable campaign in 2015, finishing bottom of the table with a wretched record of just three wins from 14. David Miller and Shaun Marsh will be hoping to lead a more positive campaign this time around, with fellow internationals Glen Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson also in tow.

IPL new boys Gujarat Lions travel to Kings XI Punjab for match three of the 2016 campaign. The familiar faces of Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja have joined a squad that featured 12 uncapped players looking to immediately cause a stir this afternoon. IBTimes UK will be bringing you all the build-up and team news ahead of a 3:30pm (BST) start at theIS Bindra Stadium.