Gujarat Lions will be aiming to win their second match on the trot as they face Mumbai Indians in Rajkot on Saturday. In their previous clash, Lions had beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore in a spectacular fashion and will look to build on that momentum.

However, their captain Suresh Raina might not be fully fit. Raina injured his shoulder during their clash against Bangalore while fielding in slip. He scored an unbeaten 34 off 30 balls and took his team home in the end.

For Mumbai, who take the field after four-day break, things are looking good. Even though they lost the Maharashtra Derby, ending their six-match winning streak, in the eight games that they have played so far, Mumbai have lost only two, and both losses came against Rising Pune Supergiant.

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Mumbai need only two more wins which ensure a smooth passage into the playoffs. They are currently second on table with 12 points.

For Lions, who are on the fifth spot with six points, the task looks difficult as they need to win five out of their next six games if they are to progress to playoffs.

Gujarat’s bowling department has been their weakness, but in the previous match against RCB, the bowlers restricted a formidable RCB line-up to 134. James Faulkner gave the side consistency they were looking for in a bowler. With Irfan Pathan also in the side, their bowling unit looks decent.

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For Mumbai, they have the most well balanced side in the league and hence they just need to get back to winning ways and ensure a top-two finish.

Time: 8 pm

Venue: SCA Stadium, Rajkot

TV: Sony Max, Sony Six, Sony ESPN and their HD channels

Head-to-head

Played: 3

Gujarat Lions: 2

Mumbai Indians: 1

Gujarat Lions

  • Off their eight games, Lions have scored 170-plus totals five times. They have also conceded 170-plus total six times.  
  • Nathu Singh has bowled four overs in two games but has only gone for 15 runs. His economy of 3.75 is the best in the IPL.      

Gujarat Lions squad: Suresh Raina (Captain), Akshadeep Nath, Shubham Agarwal, Basil Thampi, Dwayne Smith, Chirag Suri, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Manpreet Gonly, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik, Dhaval Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Brandon McCullum, Pradeep Sangwan, Jason Roy, Jaydev Shah, Shelly Shaurya, Nathusingh, Tejas Baroka and Andrew Tye.

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“It was a very good performance from the team tonight (against RCB). We’ve put ourselves in this position by being poor in a couple of games. We’re still very confident, though. We have a good side, but time will tell,” said Aaron Finch.

Mumbai Indians

  • Harbhajan Singh has dismissed Suresh Raina five times, the most by a bowler against Raina in IPL history. 
  • Mumbai have not breached the 160-run mark this season when Nitish Rana has made a single-digit score.  
  • Mumbai Indians have hit the most sixes this season. Their batsmen have hit a total of 65 sixes in the eight matches.      

Mumbai Indians squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Lendl Simmons, Mitchel Johnsohn, Mitchell McClenghan, Nitish Rana, Parthiv Patel, Saurabh Tiwary, Shreyas Gopal, Tim Southee, Lasith Malinga, Krunal Pandya, Keiron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Asela Gunaratne, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, Jagdish Suchith, Jaspreet Bumrah, Jos Buttler, Karn Sharma and Vinay Kumar.