The Gujarat Lions, after topping the IPL points table last season, will look for another serene league campaign in the 2017 version of the Indian Premier League. Standing in their way from making a perfect start will be the Kolkata Knight Riders, who will have their own designs on finishing in the top four and winning the IPL 2017 title.
GL were brilliant in the 14 games last season, topping the table from the likes of RCB and SRH, before falling in Qualifier 2 to the eventual champions the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The Lions found their league season mojo thanks mainly to their top order batting and it is to that top order batting they will look to when KKR come calling in Rajkot on Friday.
Here is a look at how the IPL 2017 Match 3 match might go.
If Gujarat Lions bat first:
Brendon McCullum and Jason Roy/Dwayne Smith get off to a typically rollicking start, with GL finding themselves on 56/0 after the Powerplay overs. McCullum falls in the seventh over to Sunil Narine, but Roy/Smith continues his merry way, with Suresh Raina coming in and scoring a quickfire 34.
Gujarat Lions lose both the settled batsman in the same over, putting a little pressure on the middle order to finish the innings on a high note. Aaron Finch does just that with help from James Faulkner and Dinesh Karthik, as the Gujarat Lions end up with 178.
KKR's reply does not start well at all, as both Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa are dismissed within the first six overs.
Manish Pandey and Chris Lynn, then, strike a solid partnership, pulling KKR out of troubled waters and keeping them in the chase. The required run rate keeps creeping up, however, and that induces a false shot from Pandey.
Yusuf Pathan comes in and gives Lynn good company, taking the chase to the final five overs, where KKR need 64. That seems like a tall order, but Lynn is striking the ball pretty well and while Pathan falls, the Australian gives KKR hope.
Suryakumar Yadav and Chris Woakes also come in and contribute, with Lynn hitting the winning runs with two balls to spare (of course, now Lynn won't even play, with Colin De Grandhomme probably doing the match-winning bit).
If KKR bat first:
Gambhir and Uthappa add 40 runs at the top, before the KKR skipper is picked up by James Faulkner. Uthappa then falls a couple of overs later, before Lynn is dismissed by Shivil Kaushik.
Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav strike up a partnership, with Pathan giving the innings the impetus towards the end, cracking a few big sixes to push the total to 181.
The Gujarat Lions have a scary opening lineup, and that scary opening lineup starts in brilliant fashion with McCullum and Smith/Roy going at well over ten runs an over in the Powerplay. The onslaught should stop, but it doesn't as the sixes and fours keep raining in, with the Gujarat Lions on 110/0 at the halfway stage.
The chase looks like a foregone conclusion now, and while the openers fall close together, Raina and Finch see the team home with eight wickets and more an over to spare.
