Published: Apr 28, 2016, 04:09 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 29, 2016, 11:55 AM (IST)
Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) face Gurajat Lions (GL) in Match 25 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016. This will the second match between both the teams this season, with GL coming out victorious by 7 wickets in their previous meeting, thanks to a Aaron Finch special in the first match they placed at Pune. The match is being played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune which has so far given us run fests. GL in their last match on Wednesday narrowed past Delhi Daredevils by 1 run, making them table toppers for the first time this season. RPS on the other hand are coming in from a clinical win over Sunrisers Hyderababd by 34 runs via Duckworth/Lewis (D/L) method. RPS are currently placed at number six on the table with 4 points from 6 matches. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: RISING PUNE SUPERGIANTS vs GUJARAT LIONS, IPL 2016, MATCH 25
The Suresh Raina-led GL did show some nerve in their match against DD, which went down to the wire, thanks to a Chris Morris’ onslaught. GL eventually came out winners in the match thanks to excellent final overs show by Praveen Kumar and Dwayne Bravo. Bravo in the final over showed displayed immaculate line and length bowling. Raina’s decision to bowl Dwayne Smith in the 16th over might have tilted the game in favor of DD. GL will be concerned with the injury to Pravin Tambe, who while fielding might have dislocated his index finger. GL’s bowling has been spearheaded by Kumar and Bravo, who have been their go to bowlers in death overs.
Their spinning department is taken care by Ravindra Jadeja and Tambe,with Raina chipping in at times. Dhawal Kulkarni was terrific in the last match picking up early wickets, which turned the game in GL’s corner. James Faulkner who came into the side for Aaron Finch has been on the expensive side so far. GL’s batting has been untested so far,with their opening pairs that included either of Brendon McCullum, Smith and Finch, have been accumulating most of the runs and which is why their middle order has not needed much.
RPS on the other hand are coming in winning a simple match against SRH, where their bowlers paved way for their victory. It was Ashok Dinda who did wonders for them playing his first match of this edition of IPL. Dinda was well complimented by Mitchell Marsh as the pair in all picked up 5 wickets giving away just 37 runs. Spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Murugan Ashwin was on the spot since ball one, with Ravi Ashwin completing his quota of 4-full overs. Rajat Bhatia who has miser with his bowling so far, got picked for runs in the last match.
Their batting has struck a chord with middle-order batsman Steven Smith came back in form, complimenting Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis, who have been on a run scoring spree. Rahane got out for a duck will want to mend his batting average in his match. With MS Dhoni, Mitchell Marsh and Perera to follow they have the fire power to decimate any bowling attack ,which will play heavily on the mind of GL. But after du Plessis was ruled out of IPL 9 due to a fractured finger, the batting looks a bit fragile. RPS have roped in Usman Khawaja but his availability for this match remains in doubt. Peter Handscomb could get a look in for his first ever IPL game.
Squads:
Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) TEAM FOR IPL 2016: MS Dhoni, Steven Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Ashwin Murugan, Ishant Sharma, Kevin Pietersen, Irfan Pathan, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, Ashok Dinda, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, RP Singh, Adam Zampa, Ishwar Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Jaskaran Singh, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Ankit Sharma.
Gujarat Lions (GL) TEAM FOR IPL 2016: Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Brendon McCullum, Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Smith, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aaron Finch, Eklavya Dwivedi, Andrew Tye, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Shah, Shadab Jakati, Pravin Tambe, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Mishra, Shivil Kaushik, Aksh Deep Nath, Sarabjeet Ladda, Umang Sharma, Paras Dogra.
Time: 20:00 IST | 14:30 GMT
(Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime, and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @vishal_oxyjinn.)
