Smith-McCullum-Finch trio enable me to play natural game: Karthik

Kolkata : Gujarat Lions wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has credited his side’s lethal triumvirate of Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch for helping him play his natural game that paved way for a comprehensive five-wicket victory in Kolkata.Karthik smashed a classy 51 off 29 runs as Gujarat regained the top spot in the Indian Premier League points table after thumping Kolkata Knight Riders with 12 balls remaining at Eden Gardens last evening.”It does help to have players of that calibre in the batting line-up because at a lot of stages in these games you need power to go with boundaries,” Karthik was quoted as saying by iplt20.com.”The way those guys bat makes it easier for batsmen like me to play my natural game. There is so much to learn from these guys. They are all legends in the T20 format. The shots they play and the way they play, I am always trying to learn looking at them,” said the 30-year-old batsman.Electing to bowl first, Gujarat seamers produced a clinical performance as they were able to restrict Kolkata to 158 for four, with Man-of-the-Match Praveen Kumar returning figures of 19-2.In reply, Smith (27) and McCullum (29) provided initial thrust with a 42-run opening-wicket partnership for Gujarat, while Australian batsman Finch smacked a brisk 29 off just 10 balls before Ravindra Jadeja finished things off with a slog-swept six over long-on.