We are now into the final month of the IPL and this Saturday brings two exciting games – Rising Pune Supergiant vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions vs. Mumbai Indians. We review the second game here, and it promises to be an exciting affair.
Last time the two sides played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai easily chased Gujarat Lions’ score of 176 and won with six wickets to spare. Since then Mumbai Indians have done very well and lie second on the points table.
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They only lost to Rising Pune Supergiant by three runs in their last game, but have beaten Delhi Daredevils by 14 runs and Kings XI by eight wickets.
Gujarat Lions have done well to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in the last game. They lost to Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs, but had a big win over the league leaders Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets.
In the last game, the Lions made a significant change, leaving out Dwayne Smith and bringing in the seam bowling all-rounder, James Faulker. Faulkner bowled very well. He was economical and it seems that the Lions will stick with him. The Lions have also called upon Irfan Pathan as a replacement for Dwayne Bravo, but it is doubtful whether the 32-year old former Indian all-rounder will be selected.
For Mumbai Indians, allrounder Krunal Pandya will be back as he has recovered from the illness that kept him out of the last match. Krunal is an important player for the Mumbai team. He and his brother Hardik have really established themselves as players to watch out for the future. Ambati Rayudu has recovered from his groin strain as well and is fit to play, but is unlikely to get the nod with Nitish Rana playing so well.
Nitish Rana has shown an early weakness against the short ball and while he has been in a rich vein of form, this seems to be the best way to get him out.
The Teams
Gujarat Lions: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Nathu Singh, 11 Ankit Soni
Mumbai Indians: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Rohit Sharma (capt), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya/Karn Sharma, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Mitchell Johnson/Lasith Malinga, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Watch Gujarat Lions play Mumbai Indians tonight at 8 pm on Sony Six!
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