Gujarat Lions, who started their IPL campaign with a win over Kings XI Punjab on Monday, will play host to the MS Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants, who themselves were impressive in their maiden IPL outing when they defeated the defending champions Mumbai Indians.
Suresh Raina’s decision-making, Dwayne Bravo’s match-changing over in which he dismissed the deadly duo of David Miller and Glenn Maxwell, and Aaron Finch’s powerful strikes at the top of the chase were the highlights of Gujarat Lions’ victory. MS Dhoni’s midas touch which brought him a wicket almost every time he made a bowling change and Ajinkya Rahane’s serene batting were the highlights of RPS’ maiden IPL win.
When
14 April 2016, 2000 Hrs IST
Where
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
Weather
Temperature: Max 32°c, Min 28°c
Humidity: Max 55%
Wind: 18kmph
The Protagonists
The Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants both have several destructive batsmen in their ranks. While GL have Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Suresh Raina in their top three, RPS have the finesse of Ajinkya Rahane, and the might of Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen and MS Dhoni in their top four. Given how destructive each of those batsmen are, chances are the fate of the match will be decided by the performance of one or two of those individuals. Keep an eye on Ravindra Jadeja too, for he will be playing an IPL match in front of his home crowd for the very first time.
On the bowling front, GL possibly have an edge over RPS, thanks to the presence of Dwayne Bravo – the highest wicket-taker in the T20 format, and James Faulkner, who is some kind of a limited overs specialist.
Trivia
The SCA Stadium in Rajkot will become the 32nd venue overall and the 21st Indian venue to host an Indian Premier League match.
In the ten Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches played at the SCA Stadium in the 2013-14 season, seven were won by the team chasing. The team batting first scored 170 in five of those ten matches.
The Rising Pune Supergiants captain MS Dhoni needs 14 more runs to become the seventh batsmen to reach the 3000-IPL-runs milestone. His opposite number sits atop the list of top run-getters in the IPL, with 3719 runs.
In the only T20 International played at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot, Australia scored 201-7 batting first, after which India chased down the runs to win by six wickets, with two balls remaining.
What Next
Gujarat Lions will head to Mumbai to clash with the defending champions Mumbai Indians on April 16. The MS Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants will be seen in action the following day – on April 17 – when they compete against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali
source-iplt20
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