IPL 2017: Gujarat Lions (GL) vs Delhi Daredevils (DD) match prediction

Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils will want to finish their league engagements in IPL 2017 on a high, starting with a win on Wednesday in Kanpur.

Neither team can make it to the IPL 2017 playoffs anymore, making this game a "let's just go through the motions and get that pride thing going" exercise.

While Gujarat Lions have the kinda-home advantage, DD will be desperate to bounce back from a massive defeat to the Mumbai Indians.

Here is a look at how GL vs MI could go.

If Gujarat Lions bat first:

Dwayne Smith and Ishan Kishan get off to a bright start, with Smith the aggressive batsman in the partnership.

Once Smith goes for 38, Kishan and Suresh Raina stay together for 48 runs, giving GL a solid platform to build on.

Build on it they do, courtesy Dinesh Karthik, Aaron Finch, Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner, with all three contributing nicely to take the total to 183.

On the Kanpur pitch, 184 is a difficult score to chase down, but the Delhi Daredevils begin well with Sanju Samson and Karun Nair.

Samson and Rishabh Pant tormented the GL bowlers the last time these two met, but there is to be no similar partnership this time, because Samson is the first batsman to go.

Karun and Shreyas Iyer, sent in at No.3 above Pant, put on a decent partnership, but that impetus is still missing.

It comes when Pant walks in, with the left-hander starting his innings off with a massive six over extra cover off the spinner Ankit Soni.

However, Pant's innings doesn't last too long and while Corey Anderson and Carlos Brathwaite play a couple of decent knocks, the target proves to be just a little beyond them.

If Delhi Daredevils bat first:

Samson and Karun get off to a rollicking start, making 62 in the Powerplay. Both the openers, though, fall in the same over, leaving Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to do the repair work while keeping the momentum.

They do that really well with a magnificent 85-run partnership, with Iyer the impressive one in the alliance – some of the strokes from the right-hander's blade is jawdropping.

Thanks to that brilliant partnership, the Daredevils' big hitters are able to go slam-bang at the back end and take the score to 191.

Having chased down 189 in their last game, GL should be confident of doing it again, but the start isn't great as Smith goes early, to Zaheer Khan.

Raina, though, counter-attacks, and counter-attacks brilliantly to keep the required run rate in check. The left-hander just continues on his merry way, and while Kishan falls at the other end, he finds an able partner in Finch.

These two batsmen are able to put on a big partnership and a match-winning one.

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