What Match 9 of VIVO IPL 2016 will see a clash between the Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions. The Mumbai Indians suffered an upset in their opening match of the season when they were humbled by Rising Pune Supergiants. But the defending champions bounced back brilliantly when they chased down 187 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Gujarat Lions, one of two new teams to join the IPL bandwagon, have two wins in two outings. Suresh Raina’s team have had to chase down targets in excess of 160 in both their matches and they’ve accomplished the job without breaking a sweat. While Raina’s captaincy has been impressive, the international players in the team have also taken responsibility and hence the team’s unbeaten record so far. The Raina-led team will look at outclassing the defending champions and retaining their position at the top of the VIVO IPL 2016 standings. When

16 April 2016, 2000 Hrs IST Where

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Weather Temperature: Max 28°c, Min 26°c Humidity: Max 90% Wind: 13kmph The Protagonists Despite the addition of Martin Guptill in the line-up, one expects the Mumbai Indians might not tinker with the team that defeated KKR on Wednesday. Skipper Rohit Sharma is an important cog in the wheel, as is the Englishman Jos Buttler, who played his first innings of substance the other night. On the bowling front, MI will look towards Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh and Mitchell McClenaghan to keep a check on the run-flow. MI have been adventurous with their batting line-up; the experiment with Hardik Pandya hasn’t reaped the expected results, while in a surprise move, McClenaghan at number four turned out to be a trump card. It will be interesting to what order MI employ in this match. The top three in the Gujarat Lions line-up is as good as you will get. Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch are among the most-explosive batsmen this generation has seen; the Trans-Tasman pair know to play only one way – take the attack to the opposition. The pair decimated the Rising Pune Supergaints in the previous match and made lightwork of what would have on most occasions been a stiff chase. The Lions skipper has had a quiet tournament so far – by his lofty standards atleast, but that’s not to say he is not hitting the ball well; one saw him play an exquisite extra cover drive in the previous match, and if those are any signs, a big one isn’t too far. Despite having very good all-round numbers, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner, thanks to their death-overs bowling skills, are used as bowling all-rounders in the IPL. Trivia

Teams chasing have won 10 of the 12 T20 matches played at the Wankhede Stadium so far this year. Of the ten run-chases, seven were chases of targets over 160. Harbhajan Singh has dismissed Suresh Raina on four occasions so far in the IPL – the most he has dismissed any one particular batsman. Dwayne Bravo has taken more wickets against the Mumbai Indians than against any other team; he has taken 23 wickets in 11 matches against MI. What Next Both teams’ next fixtures are against Sunrisers Hyderabad. While the Mumbai Indians will head to Hyderabad for their match on April 18, the Gujarat Lions will enjoy a brief break before their next match in Rajkot on April 21.