What

Match 25 of VIVO IPL 2016 will see the return fixture between Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions. These two teams met in Rajkot in the first week of the competition when the Gujarat Lions, chasing 164, trounced RPS by seven wickets.

Rising Pune Supergiants haven’t really hit their straps yet; they have two wins from six outings, which includes their win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a rain-affected contest on Tuesday. MS Dhoni’s team is yet to find a settled combination, and injuries to key players haven’t helped their cause. First Kevin Pietersen was ruled out because of a calf injury, and now Faf du Plessis’ season has come to a premature end because of a finger injury. It will be interesting to see how captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming tackle this tricky situation they are faced with; one imagines the likely way the pair will take is to push Saurabh Tiwary up the order to bat alongside Ajinkya Rahane and bolster the middle order with Albie Morkel. But with Dhoni, always be ready to be surprised.

Gujarat Lions’ fortunes are almost a mirror image of RPS’; they have consistently occupied the two places in the table. They have won five of their six matches – the only blip coming in the match Sunrisers Hyderabad. Suresh Raina’s team has also found a combination that can do the job efficiently. The openers in particular have lived up to their lofty reputations, while the bowling, though it has come in for some stick, has risen and delivered when it has mattered – like in the win against the Delhi Daredevils most recently.

When

29 April 2016, 2000 Hrs IST

Where

MCA International Stadium, Pune

Weather

Temperature: Max 33°c, Min 27°c
Humidity: Max 54%
Wind: 11kmph

The Protagonists

There will be huge expectations for Ajinkya Rahane to score runs – and play the big innings - consistently; with his opening partner Faf du Plessis being ruled out, the onus will be on Rahane to bat deep into the innings. If as expected RPS field both Albie Morkel and Mitchell Marsh (along with Thisara Perera), that gives them plenty of ammunition in the middle order and therefore there is every reason for MS Dhoni to promote himself to number four. Though the match will be played on a new surface, MS Dhoni will need his spinners – especially R Ashwin – to not look at only restricting the runs, but also look at picking up wickets.

In the two matches Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum have opened the innings for the Gujarat Lions, they have wasted little time in pushing their opponents into a corner; against RCB, they added 47 in 5.2 overs, and most-recently they knocked the stuffing of the Delhi Daredevils bowlers adding 112 in 10.4 overs. The pair, who got together only because of the injury to Aaron Finch, will be expected to continue doing the same. On the bowling front, Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar have kept the pressure on the opposition batsmen with the new ball; it gave plenty of joy watching Praveen, who has generally been miserly with the new ball, bowl yorkers at the death in the previous match. The form of Dwayne Bravo, despite his good final over against the Delhi Daredevils, and James Faulkner continues to be a worry for GL; the duo is expected to fare a lot better than their economy rates of 11.20 and 10.50 respectively while bowling in the final five overs.

Head to Head

In the only previous meeting between these two teams, played at Rajkot on April 14, the Gujarat Lions cruised to a convincing 7-wicket victory chasing 163. A half-century from Aaron Finch and a quick-fire 49 from his opening partner Brendon McCullum helped the Lions gun down the target.

Trivia

Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni India’s two-most experienced cricketers in the T20 format; Raina has appeared in 233 T20 matches, while MS Dhoni has 232 T20 caps to his credit.

Brendon McCullum has scored at the rate of 180.00 against quick bowlers in VIVO IPL 2016; his strike-rate against spin bowlers is 124.00.

The Gujarat Lions’ run rate in the Powerplay period is 9.83 – the highest among all the teams competing in VIVO IPL 2016.

In the two matches played at Pune so far this season, quick bowlers have picked up 5 wickets while bowling first. Under lights, while bowling in the run-chase, the quick bowlers have picked up 12 wickets.

What Next

The Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions will be seen in action next on May 1. While MS Dhoni’s RPS play host to the Mumbai Indians at 8pm, the Gujarat Lions will be seen in action against Kings XI Punjab at Rajkot in the 4pm fixture.