Burden on improved bowling teams at high-scoring venue
With both teams loaded with power-hitters at the top, the onus is on the bowling units at a venue that favours run scoring
The Preview by Sreshth Shah
28-Apr-2017
Match facts
Gujarat Lions v Mumbai Indians
Rajkot, April 29, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)
Rajkot, April 29, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)
Head to head
This season
On a batting-friendly surface at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai chased down Lions' score of 176 - courtesy a 36-ball 53 from Nitish Rana and useful contributions from Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard - to win with six wickets to spare.
Overall
Lions won both their meetings against Mumbai in the previous season.
In the news
Dwayne Smith was left out of Lions' XI during their last match against Royal Challengers. James Faulker - his replacement - was economical and Lions may stick with him. Irfan Pathan, a replacement for Dwayne Bravo, is available for selection.
Allrounder Krunal Pandya has recovered from the illness that kept him out of Mumbai's previous game, but his selection will be subject to a fitness test before the match. Ambati Rayudu announced on Twitter this week that he had fully recovered from a groin injury he suffered early in the tournament. He said he had been "training hard and eagerly awaiting a call up".
Should Gujarat Lions bring Irfan Pathan into the XI?
0 votesYes, the young Lions bowlers are leaking too many runs
No, Irfan is past his prime and doesn't fit into Lions' XI
The likely XIs
Gujarat Lions: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Nathu Singh, 11 Ankit Soni
Mumbai Indians: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Rohit Sharma (capt), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya/Karn Sharma, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Mitchell Johnson/Lasith Malinga, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Strategy Punt
Lions' bowlers could attack Nitish Rana with the short ball early. Despite his success against the short ball, Rana has been out in the previous two innings attempting to pull bouncers from Dan Christian and Pat Cummins.
Stats that matter
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo