Ravindra Jadeja foxes Pune with neat bowling display

Ravindra Jadeja, with figures of two for 18 in his four-over spell, helped restrict Pune's power-packed batting line up to just 163 and in turn, allowed Gujarat to comfortably beat them by seven wickets in the Indian Twenty20 competition in Rajkot on Thursday.

Faf du Plessis and Ajinkya Rahane, Pune's openers, made the most of favourable batting conditions after their captain, MS Dhoni, won the toss and opted to bat. The duo hit four fours from the first 21 balls, before Rahane fell.

His departure brought Kevin Pietersen and du Plessis together. They smashed multiple boundaries and added 30 runs off 13 balls. The fireworks ended the Powerplay at 57 for 1. The 86-run stand, for the second wicket, set up a platform for Pune's powerful middle order to launch an onslaught, but Dwayne Bravo - the Purple cap holder - set the alarm bells ringing, as he foxed Pietersen with a slower ball in the 14th over and du Plessis followed two-overs later.

Suresh Raina, Gujarat's captain, had James Faulkner to bowl in the death overs, but he choose Jadeja. His move paid rich dividends as Jadeja - bowling in familiar conditions - conceded just four runs in the 17th and 19th over and accounted for Steven Smith and Mitchell Marsh. His effort restricted Pune to a manageable total. In all, Jadeja conceded just one boundary in his spell, in which he bowled 14 dot balls.

Gujarat's top-four batsmen found runs and ended the chase with 12 balls to spare. Opener Aaron Finch top scored with a 36-ball 50. "When you have Faulkner and Bravo, the game is not over. On a big outfield like this, I thought we could attack with three spinners," Raina said.

"I wanted to give Bravo a chance at No. 4. It was about rotating our batsmen. Finchy and Baz started well. Captaincy is just a name to be honest. We have a lot of experience in this group. Everyone has played a part."