Suresh Raina-led Gujarat Lions will lock horns against Gautam Gambhir’s mighty Kolkata Knight Riders tonight at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium in Rajkot. Interestingly, Lions are known for putting up a strong performance last year staying on the top of IPL points table.
IPL 2017: Gujarat Lions vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Preview #IPL
Both sides will have high expectations from their all-rounders. Interestingly, in IPL 2016, Gujarat Lions beat KKR at both the league matches in which they clashed against each other. Will they repeat the same this year too? Wait and watch.
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Team News for Gujarat Lions (GL)
On paper, Gujarat are a really strong side. They have fiery batting combinations in foreign players like Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Jason Roy and James Faulkner.
In fact, Raina himself will come at No. 3 at one down as Roy and McCullum are set to open the innings. Also, Finch in the middle will be extremely useful for the team as the Aussie smashed quite a few brilliant half-centuries last IPL season. Then experienced Dinesh Karthik will also be there at number 5 for death overs.
Gujarat Lions will continue the tournament without its star all-rounders; Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. Both of them will miss a few matches due to injuries. In bowling department, much will depend upon how the speedsters Dhawal Kulkarni, Pawan Kumar and Munaf Patel will perform in the initial overs. Then the left-arm-chinaman Shivil Kaushik will bowl in the middle over to restrict the opponent’s flow of runs.
Team News for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
KKR will heavily depend on its opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa in the first few overs for a good start. Then the likes of Manish Pandey and Chris Lynn are likely to come at No. 3 and 4 respectively to consolidate the innings forward.
Veteran spinner Shakib Al Hasan will miss today’s match as he is yet to arrive in India from Colombo after the Bangladesh’s 2nd T20I against Sri Lanka.
Not to forget, explosive Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell won’t feature in KKR team in VIVO IPL 10 owning to his suspension by WICB earlier this year. Collin de Grandhomme will be replacing him this season. He has a prolific strike rate of 170 in T20 matches.
The good news is the availability of Yousuf Pathan and Suryakant Yadav – prolific hitter in T20s at lower middle order. Trent Boult and Nathan Coutler-Nile will spearhead the KKR’s pace attack while Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav will handle the spin department.
Also Read: IPL 2017: Complete fixtures, schedule and time in IST with venue details
Probable XI (Both Teams)
Gujarat Lions (GL): Suresh Raina (Captain), Brendon McCullum, Jason Roy, Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik (Wicket Keeper), James Faulkner, Ishan Kishan, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivil Kaushik and Munaf Patel.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Robin Uthappa (Wicket Keeper), Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Woakes, Manish Pandey, Chris Lynn, , Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Trent Boult and Nathan Coutler Nile.
Venue and Time: Match will telecast live from Rajkot from 8PM onwards on Sony ESPN and Set Max.
Winning Total: 170+
Past Records: GL Vs KKR: Gujarat won both the encounters in IPL 2016.
Stat Fact: Gujarat Lions Captain Suresh Raina is 13 more runs short of ViratKohli’s record aggregate of 4098 IPL runs to become leading scorer in the tournament.
Tags: #IPL, GL, Gujarat Lions, Indian Premier League, IPL 10, IPL 2017, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajkot
