Match 13: Gujarat Lions vs Rising Pune Supergiant
Saurashtra Cricket Stadium, Rajkot (Capacity: 28,000)
Friday, April 14th
20:00 hours IST
After suffering big defeats in both their matches Gujarat will be looking to make amends before it is too late. The Supergiant, on the other hand, are in no better position apart from the fact that they have a win under their belt which was followed by two defeats in their previous two encounters against Punjab and a mammoth drubbing at the hands of Delhi.
Team Form:
GL: L(KKR) L(SRH)
RPS: W(MI) L(KXIP) L(DD)
Team News:
The Gujarat Lions must have realized by now how costly it can prove to try covering up a lack luster bowling attack with a power packed batting line up. With an influx of blazing openers, Gujarat have made the mistake of picking all four overseas players as batsmen in the form of Finch, Roy, Smith and McCullum. Jason Roy’s inefficiency in playing the spinners is clearly evident as is the backfiring of sending Dwayne Smith in the middle order. In the bowling department, the economical Praveen Kumar has proven to be the lone warrior with Kulkarni, Gony, Thampi and Kaushik proving to be huge let downs. However, the Lions will welcome local boy Ravindra Jadeja, who also happens to be the No. 1 Test bowler in the ICC ranking. Roy shall make way for all-rounder James Faulkner which shall give them a more balanced look.
Pune will be highly relieved that Steve Smith has recovered from his stomach bug and will be back to lead the team. Their bowling has let them down with the likes of Dinda, Chahar and Zampa proving listless. Tahir will be looked at to show the way and eyes will also be set at Stokes. Batting is their strength with Rahane and Smith their batting mainstays. Dhoni’s below par performance could be a reason to worry. Manoj Tiwary would miss out as he is back home, mourning the loss of his father. Looking at the track, they could be tempted at playing Dan Christian ahead of Adam Zampa.
Ideal Playing XI:
Gujarat Lions: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina ©, Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Manpreet Gony, Tejas Baroka
Rising Pune Supergiant: Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith ©, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Dan Christian, Ashok Dinda, Imran Tahir
Pitch and Weather report: The Rajkot track is expected to offer only little assistance to the bowlers and thus the fans can be in for a treat as a batting feast is on the cards. With temperatures expected to be in the higher 30’s, a hot evening can be predicted.
History: The rivalry between these two teams is a special one. Since both have been given just two seasons in the IPL, both will look to outweigh the other. In their previous two meetings, Gujarat ended up on the winning side both times, successfully chasing down totals on both occasions.
Match prediction: A high scoring match is expected and with all the firepower in the Gujarat team due to perform big, it could well be a case of the home team achieving their first win this season to get their wagon back on track.