The Mumbai Indians will look to get back to winning ways, the Gujarat Lions stay on the victory track as the two teams clash in Rajkot in IPL 2017 Match 35.
MI were surprisingly beaten by RPS at the Wankhede on Monday, with the usually great chasing side failing to get to the finish line, albeit thanks to a superlative bowling performance from the Rising Pune Supergiant.
The Gujarat Lions were victorious in their last outing, thanks to their bowlers, who kept RCB to a low score.
So, how will this IPL 2017 match go? Here is a prediction of GL vs MI.
If Gujarat Lions bat first:
Brendon McCullum and Ishan Kishan waste no time in taking it to the Mumbai Indians opening bowlers, as GL jump to 45 in four overs.
McCullum is then dropped by Harbhajan Singh at deep backward square-leg, and the New Zealander makes them pay for that miss by spanking a few more boundaries and sixes to take GL to 68 at the end of the Powerplay.
Kishan falls to Harbhajan right after, while Suresh Raina is unable to find his mojo with the bat this time.
Aaron Finch, though, comes in and allies with McCullum to set GL up for a big score. They get to that thanks to Dinesh Karthik and James Faulkner, who go boundary-crazy in the final overs to lift the Gujarat Lions total to 201.
Mumbai Indians begin the chase in a blaze of glory as Jos Buttler finds the boundaries with aplomb. Parthiv Patel might have fallen early in the chase, but there is no stopping Buttler and Nitish Rana, who spank all the GL bowlers, including Andrew Tye, to all parts of the ground.
Gujarat Lions need wickets if they are to stay in the game, and Ravindra Jadeja is the man that provides it, as he picks up Rana, who holes out at deep midwicket.
Buttler, though, is still there and with Rohit Sharma showing good form again, the Mumbai Indians stay on course.
That course cannot be altered by the Gujarat Lions bowlers, with MI getting to that big target relatively comfortably.
If Mumbai Indians bat first:
Buttler and Parthiv tear into Nathu Singh in the first over, before the latter is picked up by Basil Thampi in the next. Buttler is also dismissed, by Andrew Tye in over number five, leaving MI two down early.
Rana and Rohit partner up for 60 runs, before Pollard and the Pandya brothers – Krunal and Hardik – smash a few towards the end to take the MI total to 188.
McCullum is not too keen about hanging around, and the veteran takes the attack to Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell McClenaghan. Harbhajan Singh is brought in during the Powerplay overs to try and stem the run flow, but McCullum continues on his merry way, with Finch, opening the innings this time, also looking quite good.
When McCullum falls, GL are well above the required run rate, and Raina and Finch keep it that way with another precious partnership.
Raina is there till the end as the Gujarat Lions get home with five balls remaining.
