The two new teams collide for the first time in the Indian Premier League this season on Thursday when the Gujarat Lions host the Rising Pune Supergiants in Rajkot.
Both sides won their opening match of the tournament and the winner of this one will move two points clear at the top of the table ahead of the rest of the matches in this set of games.
Gujarat Lions
The Lions produced a pretty comprehensive victory in their first game of the season. They took the Kings XI Punjab down and did it in a more emphatic way than the scoreline suggested and that is encouraging going forward.
They have areas to improve on, not least their opening stint with the ball but they have two of the best death specialists going around so they can bring back any total should a side get away from them. They look well equipped to go well.
Rising Pune Supergiants
Thankfully the Supergiants are a lot better on the field than their name is! They destroyed the defending champions Mumbai Indians in their first match which was a bit of a surprise and having seen what the Indians have done since that result is already starting to look very good.
Such was the dominance of their win in Mumbai that Steve Smith, MS Dhoni and Mitch Marsh didn’t even need to go out to the middle to bat so there is even more to come from this unknown side who are new to the competition.
Team news
The talk is that the Lions could bring another spinner into their side and if they do that is likely to be the veteran Pravin Tambe. He could bowl in the first six overs which could be important for them so there could be mileage in that.
In all his time as captain, both of India or the Chennai Super Kings, MS Dhoni has been reluctant to change for no good reason and after such an emphatic first win in the competition it is hard to see the side being changed for this game.
Form
Gujarat Lions: W
Rising Pune Supergiants: W
Head to head: First meeting
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium
This is the first time this ground in Rajkot will host an IPL match but it has staged a T20 International in the past with Australia and India meeting in a match where both sides clobbered over 200. England and India met in an ODI here where 300 was scored by both so that evidence suggests we could be in for something of a run fest.
We don’t truly know how the wicket will play. There is talk that it will take some turn. That could just be a lazy assumption or there could be something in it but you wouldn’t think a turning track would suit the star players for the home side so maybe there is a little skulduggery in that talk.
Betting
Depending on where you shop you can get near enough the same price on both these sides to win and that shows how open this match is, as well as how much of an unknown there is surrounding the two sides as well.
We didn’t really see enough of the Supergiants in their first match to know what to make of them. On the face of it they look a really good side but I think I would rather judge them after this one because Mumbai just didn’t turn up in that game. With that in mind I’ll leave the match betting alone.
I’m going to avoid the player performances for this match too although I’ll certainly be going full pelt at them as the tournament continues. I’m tempted by the sixes in this match as well but I’m slightly put off by this talk about the wicket potentially spinning so in the end I’m hitting the side markets for a punt.
Pune’s first six overs runs line is at 46.5 and I think that is slightly on the generous side. They have plenty of batting so they can afford to go hard at the top and that might be the instruction because sides aren’t going to get much joy out of Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner at the end of the innings.
Ajinkya Rahane is a classy player who doesn’t waste many balls up front and he’s the perfect foil for the likes of Faf du Plessis and Kevin Pietersen to attack the bowling at the other end. With Steve Smith coming in at four, Pune can afford to lose a couple of wickets and still not drop their run rate too much.
Against a Lions side who look set up to bowl much better at the end of the innings than the start I’m happy to take Pune to nail eight an over from their powerplay with the stars they have wielding the willow.
Tips
WON – Back Pune 1st 6 Overs – Over 46.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Coral
Back it here:
