Tye loss jolts Lions ahead of Pune clash
Match facts
Rising Pune Supergiant v Gujarat Lions
Pune, May 1, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)
Head-to-head
This season: Gujarat Lions' hat-trick hero Andrew Tye led his side to a seven-wicket victory at home, where Lions nailed a 172-run chase with two overs to spare.
Overall: Lions have won all the three games played between the two teams and have done so while chasing.
In the news
Rising Pune allrounder Ben Stokes, who has missed a couple of matches due to an injured shoulder, has regained fitness and is likely to be available for selection.
Gujarat Lions bowler Andrew Tye is slated to head back home after dislocating his shoulder. The Australian quick was stretchered off the ground midway through Lions' match against Mumbai Indians after he fell on his left shoulder while diving for a ball at the boundary. Nathu Singh, who was replaced by Irfan Pathan in Lions' previous game, is understood to be recovering well from a back niggle.
The likely XIs
Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Ajinkya Rahane/Mayank Agarwal, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Manoj Tiwary , 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Dan Christian, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Lockie Ferguson, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Imran Tahir 11 Jaydev Unadkat
Gujarat Lions: 1 Ishan Kishan, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Nathu Singh/ Irfan Pathan, 11 Ankit Soni
Strategy punt
Jadeja has dismissed Steven Smith four times in nine innings in the IPL; no other bowler has dismissed Smith more than twice. Against Jadeja, Smith has scored only 45 runs off 46 balls. In the recently concluded Test series, Jadeja got Smith out three times, while the other India bowlers could collectively dismiss him only four times. It will, thus, be no surprise if an encore of the Jadeja-Smith contest unfolds at the MCA Stadium again on Monday.
Stats that matter
- That Gujarat Lions rely heavily on Finch to deliver is established by his contribution in the team's three wins: 33* off 19 against Rising Pune, 31 off 15 against Kolkata Knight Riders and 72 off 34 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His highest score in a losing cause is only 19.
- Among 16 players who have opened the innings and scored 100 or more runs in the tournament so far, Ajinkya Rahane has the worst strike-rate - 121.26. Barring the first game, where he made 60 off 34 at 176.47, he has struggled to score at a rate in excess of 130.
- Suresh Raina has scored 310 runs in the nine innings so far this year - the most he has in any season in the first nine innings. The last time he crossed 300 after playing nine games was in 2009, where he had made 309.
- Brendon McCullum has struggled against Jaydev Unadkat's pace, having fallen to the left-arm bowler twice in two innings. McCullum has, however, had more success against Imran Tahir, scoring 38 off 15 balls without being dismissed once in two innings.
- Ravindra Jadeja has been effective against both MS Dhoni and Manoj Tiwary, conceding 26 off 18 and 32 off 29 respectively. He has dismissed both Dhoni and Tiwary twice in the IPL.