What

Table-toppers Gujarat Lions will be keen to return to winning ways when they take on the Delhi Daredevils in Match 31 of VIVO IPL 2016. The Lions, who’ve looked the best team so far in the competition, have six wins from eight outings. But Suresh Raina’s side suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab on Sunday and will sure be hurting from that loss. While the result itself will not rankle, the lack of application from the batsmen will definitely have stirred the Lions management. Since losing their first match of the season, the Delhi Daredevils have turned things around and have gone on to win four of their next five outings. They almost defeated won that match against the Gujarat Lions too, losing by the margin of a solitary run. Despite the team’s success in recent times, the team management will be aware of problems at the top; the average opening stand for the team stands at 9.67 – with a best of 24, and the top three have been dismissed for aggregates of 16 and 15 in the last two matches. When

3 May 2016, 2000 Hrs IST Where

Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot Weather

Temperature: Max 34°c, Min 30°c Humidity: Max 51% Wind: 18kmph The Protagonists

In the XIs Gujarat Lions have fielded in the last few matches, it is their top three – Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina – who are capable of setting up games and winning games. On the bowling front, Praveen Kumar and Dhawal Kulkarni have tested batsmen in the corridor they don’t like, while Dwayne Bravo – even if he has gone for a few runs – has used the variations in his repertoire to pick up wickets at the death. The addition of the chinaman bowler Shivil Kaushik lends a bit of suspense to the bowling attack. The Delhi Daredevils won matches riding on the back of starts provided by Quinton de Kock early in the season before the middle-order stepped up and earned them points in the last couple of matches. de Kock is an important batsman in the Daredevils’ scheme of things; the left-hander has the appetite to play the big innings, but he needs to bide his time at the start before pushing on the accelerator. Zaheer Khan plays an important role too – not only as the team’s captain, but also as their most-experienced bowler. The 37-year old has been unlucky at times, but he needs to start getting among the wickets regularly. The spin pairing of Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir will play a significant role too; they will be expected to cause plenty of damage with conditions expected to assist bowlers of their ilk. Head to Head

When these two teams met at Delhi earlier this season, the Gujarat Lions survived a later order onslaught from Chris Morris and held their nerve to sneak to a 1-run victory. Trivia

The Delhi Daredevils’ average opening partnership this season stands at 9.67 – the lowest among all teams this season. The Delhi Daredevils have the best bowling economy rate of all teams this season – 7.86. The Delhi Daredevils have lost 14 wickets in the Powerplay overs so far in the tournament, where the Gujarat Lions have lost only 7 wickets in that period of play. The Gujarat Lions have lost 20 wickets in the last five overs, while the Daredevils have lost only 10 wickets in that period of play. Delhi Daredevils have effected the most run outs in VIVO IPL 2016; they’ve run out eight batsmen so far in the competition. Chris Morris’ economy rate while bowling in the first ten overs of the innings this season stands at 6.90. While bowling in the back ten, his economy rate has been 6.23. All his five wickets this season have been when he has bowled in the latter half of the innings. What Next

The Delhi Daredevils’ next fixture will be their home tie against Rising Pune Supergiants on May 5. The Gujarat Lions will be seen in action next on May 6 when they square off against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad.