Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians will come up against each other in Match 35 of IPL 2017 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot later in the day. Gujarat Lions have three wins from eight matches, the most-recent of them against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday night. The Lions had a largely forgettable first half of the tournament, winning just two of their first seven matches. But if they want to be contenders for one of the playoff spots, now is the time for the Lions to start stitching together a series of wins. The bowling department has been the team’s Achilles heel, but in the previous match against RCB, the bowlers did exceptionally well to restrict a formidable RCB line-up to 134. Captain Suresh Raina expressed satisfaction that the team appeared to have found a combination that could compete. The Mumbai Indians were on a roll before they were halted in pursuit of their 7th consecutive win by Rising Pune Supergiant. MI have had a 4-day break since that defeat in the Maharashtra Derby, and will look to retain their place in the top two. Brendon McCullum, captain Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch, who recently demolished the RCB bowlers, will be central to the Gujarat Lions’ batting plans. Nitish Rana is the Mumbai Indians’ highest run-getter; the left-hander, dismissed for single-digit scores in his last two innings, will be keen to get back among the runs. MI will also be delighted that Rohit Sharma has found form; after a slow start to the tournament, the MI captain struck a fluent 58 in the previous match against RPS.
Today’s Matches
