Highlights GL vs KKR, IPL 2017 at Rajkot, cricket scores and updates: Lynn, Gambhir setup 10-wicket win

Highest targets chased by teams without losing a wicket in T20s:

184 by Kolkata Knight Riders v Gujarat Lions at Rajkot in 2017*

171 by Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Renegades at Melbourne in 2015

169 by New Zealand v Pakistan at Hamilton in 2016

Chris Lynn is the Man of the Match for his scintillating 93 off 41 balls, which included six fours and EIGHT sixes!

More than five overs to spare and KKR win by 10 wickets. That is just silly. No team has chased a total that high to win by 10 wickets. Lynn is an outrageous talent but he has never shown that at the IPL. This could be his year. For the Lions this is a massive loss that will shake them. They needed more runs but their bowlers have been awful today. 

Highest opening stands in IPL:

184* – GAUTAM GAMBHIR/CHRIS LYNN v GL at Rajkot in 2017

167 – Chris Gayle/TM Dilshan v PW at Bangalore in 2013

Powerful statement intent --and talent -- made by KKR today #IPL2017

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 7, 2017

After 14.5 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 184/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 76 , Chris Lynn 93)

THAT’S IT! Lynn ends the chase quicker than what most would have thought, and it takes him two sixes, a four, two doubles and two wides in this over to bring up an emphatic 10-wicket victory for KKR with more than five overs left in their kitty! 

Baz McCullum could have spoilt it for KKR in the first legal ball of the over, had he held on to the catch after Lynn sliced an attempted inside-out shot towards long-off, only to palm the ball over the rope for a six. The remainder of the over symbolised Gujarat’s bowling performance in this match — listless that is.

Not enough runs, bad bowling and sub par fielding. More was expected of the Lions this year after they finished top of the league stage of last year’s tournament. Lynn has been ridiculous, Gambhir has been solid. This stand is a massive statement from KKR this early in the tournament. It is now about whether KKR can win by 10 wickets. 

After 14 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 162/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 76 , Chris Lynn 73)

Kaushik bowls his final over, and his spell has been a forgettable one so far in the innings. Lynn smashes his sixth six in the first ball, perhaps looking to end the game as quickly as possible. Three more singles in the remainder of the over. With 22 runs left to score, Lynn could very well complete it inside an over. Time for the second timeout. 

KKR need 22 runs off 36 balls

Highest partnerships for KKR in IPL:

153* – GAUTAM GAMBHIR/CHRIS LYNN v GL,2017

152 – Jacques Kallis/Gautam Gambhir for 2nd wicket v RR,2011

136 – Jacques Kallis/Manvinder Bilsa for 2nd wicket v CSK,2012

After 13 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 153/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 75 , Chris Lynn 65)

Praveen returns for his second over, and the crowd seems to have lost its voice by now, given how their team is getting hammered in this game. The opening partnership touches the 150-mark in this over, incredible by any standard. Already is the highest-ever opening stand for KKR. Six runs off the over, including a leg-bye off the last. 

KKR need 31 runs off 42 balls

A 32nd IPL fifty for Gambhir who has been happy to watch the fireworks from Lynn at the other end. No Lions bowler has come close to taking a wicket so far and we are now heading towards the end of a game that looked to be a great fixture on paper but has ended up being very one sided. If KKR were batting first they could well have posted 220 plus. This is now the best opening stand ever for KKR. 

Gautam Gambhir becomes the second captain after MS Dhoni to score 3000 runs in IPL. 

As suspected, the Lions top order misfiring has meant that their weak bowling line up are struggling to defend a this total on a superb batting pitch. Lynn has reached fifty from 19 balls as an opener. This has been a brutal dismantling of the Lions bowling attack, and it is difficult to know how they fix the problems with this bowling attack going forward. They needed more runs. 

150* – The partnership between Gambhir and Lynn is now the highest opening partnership for KKR in IPL. Their previous highest was 121 between Gambhir and Uthappa v RR in 2014.

As suspected, the Lions top order misfiring has meant that their weak bowling line up are struggling to defend a this total on a superb batting pitch. Lynn has reached fifty from 19 balls as an opener. This has been a brutal dismantling of the Lions bowling attack, and it is difficult to know how they fix the problems with this bowling attack going forward. They needed more runs. 

Most times involved in 100-plus partnerships in IPL:

14 – Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli 

12 – GAUTAM GAMBHIR*

11 – AB de Villiers, David Warner

After 12 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 147/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 72 , Chris Lynn 62)

More agony in store for Jakati and Gujarat, with a wide down the leg side eventually running away towards the long-stop boundary for five wides. That is followed by an inside-out strike over extra-cover by Gambhir a couple of legal deliveries later. Excellent work by McCullum at deep extra-cover in the penultimate ball to save two runs. 16 off the over, with KKR now within striking distance of victory. 

KKR need 37 runs off 48 balls

After 11 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 131/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 64 , Chris Lynn 60)

Gony back in the act, into his second over. Gambhir smokes him for three boundaries. Slices the third ball over extra-cover, pulls the fifth powerfully to send it racing towards the midwicket fence before uppercutting the last ball to the region between third man and backward point. 

KKR need 53 runs off 54 balls

After 10 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 117/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 50 , Chris Lynn 60)

Jakati from the other end, and gives away seven runs, with Gambhir getting to his half-century off the last ball. The KKR openers seem to have calmed down a little after the volley of boundaries that they had unleashed in the powerplay, though they might just be catching their breath for all you know.

FIFTY for Gautam Gambhir at the end of the 10th over, and he gets there in his 33rd deliveri with a single down the ground. Hasn’t quite matched Lynn in terms of fireworks, but this has been a superb innings nevertheless!

After 9 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 109/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 46 , Chris Lynn 57)

Kaushik into his third over, and concedes a boundary off a French cut in the very first ball, after Lynn gets an inside-edge. Just two runs in the remainder of the over. Good one for Gujarat.

Bit of a breather for Gujarat with the timeout at the end of the 8th over. Let’s see what tactics they come up with now.

After 8 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 103/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 45 , Chris Lynn 52)

A desperate Raina now gets Shadab Jakati into the attack for the first time, and the fact that the over doesn’t yield a single boundary is in itself quite an impressive feat, given how Lynn and Gambhir have been going hammer-and-tongs so far. KKR bring up the 100 in just 8 overs, which is the fourth-fastest team 100 in IPL history.

After 7 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 96/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 40 , Chris Lynn 50)

Change of bowler doesn’t necessarily mean the carnage is going to stop anytime soon. Smith is introduced into the attack, and Lynn completes his level-up to God mode. Smashes three sixes with brute power, along with a boundary, leaving both Smith and Raina ashen-faced. Takes a single off the last ball to bring up his half-century.

Fastest fifties for KKR in IPL: (By balls)

15 – Yusuf Pathan v SRH in 2014

19 – Andre Russell v KXIP in 2015

19 – CHRIS LYNN v GL in 2017*

21 – Brendon McCullum v CSK in 2009

FIFTY for Chris Lynn, and he gets there in just 19 deliveries! Smashes three sixes and a four off Smith in the latter’s first over, before taking a single off the last ball to get to the milestone!

This has been a really poor bowling performance from the Lions so far. Bowling was always going to be their weaker suit but there have been far too made short and wide balls and these two openers are far too good to get away with that. 73 runs from the PowerPlay and this game could already be lost. 

After 6 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 73/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 40 , Chris Lynn 27)

Kaushik into his second over, and this one truly is a nightmare, with four boundaries and four byes coming off it. Gets whacked over backward square-leg by Gambhir first ball, with the ball beating Gambhir’s bat and going through Karthik’s legs in the second. Kaushik remains clueless in the remainder of the over as KKR notch up an amazing 73 in the powerplay.

Most times involved in 50-plus opening partnerships in IPL:

27 – GAUTAM GAMBHIR*

26 – Shikhar Dhawan 

24 – Chris Gayle 

23 – Murali Vijay 

22 – Brendon McCullum

After 5 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 53/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 23 , Chris Lynn 27)

Kulkarni back into the attack, and bowls a much tighter over in this one. That is until the fifth ball, in which Gambhir smacks a slower ball over wide long-on to bring up the 50-stand with Lynn.

After 4 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 46/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 18 , Chris Lynn 26)

Gujarat unleash a chinaman of their own — Shivil Kaushik. Can conveniently be described as India’s answer to Paul Adams. Well Gambhir greets him with a boundary nevertheless. Kaushik replies with a couple of quicker deliveries that go as dots later in the over, but is unable to stop Lynn from ending the over with a boundary — a slice over gully.

After 3 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 37/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 13 , Chris Lynn 22)

Manpreet Gony into the attack. Gambhir starts off with a straight drive to get his second boundary. Lynn smashes the third ball towards cow-corner, with the ball landing just inside the circle, before smoking the fourth ball for what should count among the biggest-ever sixes (or is the stadium  a tad too small?) Another massive over for KKR, with 17 coming off it, and Gony might very well get taken off the attack for now.

The Lions medium pacers are looking exposed against the hyper aggressive batting of Chris Lynn who has already smashed a towering six. Gambhir is the perfect foil for Lynn as an opener and if the Lions are going to defend this par total they need to get the Australian out sooner rather than later. There has been an argument that Lynn has struggled against spin but last summer he batted brilliantly on turning pitches in Guyana while batting in the Caribbean Premier League. He will be in Australian colours on a regular basis sooner rather than later. 

After 2 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 20/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 8 , Chris Lynn 12)

Dhawal Kulkarni from the other end. The Mumbai medium-pacer has had a good domestic season with the ball, and will look to carry some of his form over to the IPL. Lynn smashes the first ball for a maximum over deep midwicket, with captain Gambhir getting into the boundary-gathering act by sending the ball straight down the ground. 13 off the over, and KKR have so far matched GL in terms of getting off to a quick start.

After 1 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 7/0 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 2 , Chris Lynn 5)

Gambhir and Lynn walk out at the start of the KKR innings, with Praveen Kumar bowling the first over. Three singles and a boundary off the last ball of the over, with Lynn giving an early glimpse of what he is capable of, in case there are a few guys out there who did not watch him in the previous IPL editions or in the BBL.

Chris Lynn in BBL 2016/17:

Innings-5

Runs-309

Ave-154.50

SR-177.78

HS-98*

Highest targets chased down successfully by KKR in IPL:

200 v KXIP at Bangalore in 2014
191 v CSK at Chennai in 2012
189 v CSK at Centurion in 2009
186 v RCB at Bangalore in 2016
184 v KXIP at Kolkata in 2015

Highest totals for Gujarat Lions in IPL:

196/7 v RPS at Pune in 2016
183/4 v KKR at Rajkot in 2017
182/4 v RCB at Rajkot in 2016

The Lions should be very grateful to Dinesh Karthik who has done a brilliant job at adding impetus to their innings after wickets fell at the wrong time throughout the opening stages. Karthik used classic shots along with some excellent innovation to make 47 from 25 before he holed out in the deep. Lions have made a total that looks to be bang on par on this very good batting pitch. 183-4 is enough for the Lions to be competitive, but there is a lot for their bowling attack to do to defend this.

After 20 overs,Gujarat Lions 183/4 ( Suresh Raina (C) 68 , Dwayne Smith 1)

Boult for the last over. Let’s see if Boult can put the expensive overs behind, and make a comeback in the final over. Leg byes to start the over with, followed by a single by Raina. Karthik carves the third ball over cover, picking the slower ball quite perfectly. Karthik shows great improvisation in the fourth delivery, executing a reverse paddle off a full, quick delivery to get his sixth boundary. Karthik tries to get his third six with a hook in the penultimate delivery, only to get caught by Suryakumar. Four off the last ball, with the captain steering it through backward point as the hosts milk 14 off the over.

OUT! Karthik’s brilliant knock comes to an end after his hook off a short ball from Boult goes straight to Suryakumar at wide long-on in the penultimate ball of the innings. GL 179/4. 

Dinesh Karthik c Suryakumar b Boult 47(25)

After 19 overs,Gujarat Lions 169/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 63 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 39)

Woakes to bowl the penultimate over. Collision in the second delivery, as a ball-watching Raina floors the English pacer mid-pitch. Karthik times his slog over long-on to perfection in the third delivery, which is followed by a cut off a slower ball for a four. Raina adds further misery with a boundary off the last ball, with 16 coming off the over. Looks like Woakes just did an Ashok Dinda!

Most wickets by spinners from career’s first four matches in IPL:

11 – Adam Zampa

9 – Shadab Jakati 

8 – Amit Mishra, Sunil Narine, KULDEEP YADAV* 

After 18 overs,Gujarat Lions 153/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 58 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 28)
 

Boult into his third over, and starts off with a yorker to Raina. Fifty partnership up with a single in the very first ball. Boundary for Raina in the fourth ball, courtesy a little more luck as a Chinese cut carries all the way to the fine-leg boundary. Karthik ends the over by getting his third boundary, his finest so far which involves an inside-out shot down the ground. Raina and Karthik have put up a stand worth 61 so far, and will look to get Gujarat past the 180-mark in the last two overs.

After 17 overs,Gujarat Lions 141/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 52 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 23)

Chawla into his final over, and much like Kuldeep, nearly gets the wicket of Raina. The skipper goes for a slog-sweep in the third ball, with the ball reaching Yusuf Pathan at backward square-leg, only for it to pop out of his hands. Second time Raina’s been dropped, and he has had his fair share of luck in his innings. Also gets to his half-century in this over, which ends with Karthik smashing his first six of the innings.

Yet another Raina fifty, but he has been a bit ropey so far. When he has hit in the air it hasn’t gone to hand and he should have been run out. Four overs to go so 10 an over from here gets them to 170. That isn’t enough so someone needs to fire. Having Dwayne Smith still to come seems like a bit of a waste of such an explosive batting talent.

Most fifty-plus scores in IPL:

34 – David Warner

31 – Gautam Gambhir

30 – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, SURESH RAINA*

25 – Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle, Ajinkya Rahane 

24 – AB de Villiers

FIFTY for Suresh Raina! He has survived a plenty of mis-hits along the way, but has put up a fine innings nevertheless! Gets there in 41 balls.

After 16 overs,Gujarat Lions 130/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 49 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 15)

Kuldeep into his final over. Get he get the big wicket of Raina before signing off? Well he does create a chance in the fourth ball when Raina top-edges for the nth time, this time towards wide long-on. Bit of a mix-up between Raina and Karthik after the latter calls for a second run. Raina would have been caught well short of his crease at the striker’s end, except Kuldeep mysteriously decided not to throw. Plenty of perplexed stares from all the KKR players, and one could hear ‘Abbe daal!" from wicketkeeper Uthappa! 

Kuldeep may have bowled quite well so far in the match, but ends up making his captain angry in his final over.

After 15 overs,Gujarat Lions 125/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 45 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 14)

Karthik picks the one bad ball of the over, the fourth delivery to be precise, and sends the ball flying towards the backward point boundary like a rocket. His second boundary of the innings. Raina is approaching a captain’s fifty at the other end.

After 14 overs,Gujarat Lions 116/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 42 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 8)

Incredible fielding effort by Boult at deep square-leg after Raina doesn’t quite time his slog, grabbing hold of the ball and throwing it back inside the rope mid-air — a feat that is becoming incresingly common, though it barely diminishes its awesomeness. Saves four runs nevertheless. Raina survives despite mishits in the next two deliveries, with the ball landing in no-man’s land on both occasions. Seven off the over.

After 13 overs,Gujarat Lions 109/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 36 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 7)

Narine again. Manish Pandey tries hard to save a boundary at sweeper cover after a cut by Karthik, but his valiance goes in vain. Seven runs off the over, including three singles.

Still no Dwayne Smith for the Lions which is something of note as he has been an opening batsman for such a long time. It will be interesting to see how he goes as a finish. There have been moments throughout this innings where the Lions have looked like they were going to really big, but wickets keep pegging them back. You would think that 180 is the minimum they need. 

After 12 overs,Gujarat Lions 102/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 34 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 2)

Boult back for his second over, and he fires a lovely inswinging yorker in the second delivery to surprise Raina. The captain though, guides a back-of-length delivery towards backward square-leg to bring up the team century in the penultimate ball.

After 11 overs,Gujarat Lions 92/3 ( Suresh Raina (C) 28 , Dinesh Karthik 1)

Kuldeep it is once again gets the breakthrough with some clever bowling, and it is Finch who has to return to the dug out after an entertaining cameo. Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu’s hero in their recent domestic outings, walks out to bat now.

OUT! Wrong ‘un from Kuldeep! Finch gets a bottom edge while attempting an inside-out slog, and knows straightaway that he has messed up! Suryakumar Yadav takes a safe catch near the wide long-off region, as GL lose their third wicket with 92 on board.

Aaron Finch c Suryakumar b Kuldeep 15(8)

After 10 overs,Gujarat Lions 91/2 ( Suresh Raina (C) 25 , Aaron Finch 15)

Yusuf Pathan introduced into the attack in the 10th over, and Finch announces himself at the crease with two clean hits towards the cow-corner region, with the second one being even better hit. 15 runs off the over, and Gambhir will now be forced to rethink his tactics.

After 9 overs,Gujarat Lions 76/2 ( Suresh Raina (C) 23 , Aaron Finch 2)

Superb comeback by Kuldeep in his second over, having gone for a four and a six in his first, breaking the partnership and snapping the momentum. Australian opener Aaron Finch is out at No 4, and his hard-hitting abilities make him one to watch out for.

A 50 runs stand between McCullum and Raina comes to an end. Raina is now the leading run scoring in the history of IPL, overtaking Virat Kohli who in turn passed Raina last season. Just over nine an over so far is a very good platform, but with McCullum gone for a brisk 35 they need to go big from here. KKR have a very powerful batting lineup and this pitch looks like an absolute belter. 

OUT! HUGE wicket. Kuldeep traps McCullum LBW. 

Kuldeep gets the much-needed wicket. McCullum was looking ominous. It’s full on middle, McCullum walks down the wicket and looks to whip but it spins back in, McCullum misses and gets hit on the pad, the umpire raises his finger on the vociferous appeal.

After 8 overs,Gujarat Lions 72/1 ( Brendon McCullum 35 , Suresh Raina (C) 21)

The 50 stand comes up between Raina and McCullum. Five good balls from Woakes, it seemed like KKR would get that much-needed good over but then Woakes drifts one onto Raina’s pads who flicks it to fine leg for four.  8 runs off the over.

This looks to be a great batting pitch. @kkrofficial @TheGujaratLions

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) April 7, 2017

Brendon McCullum is still such a class act. It may be over a year since he last played international level but there is no one in the world that is a cleaner striker of the cricket ball. There is always the danger that when a player starts on a T20 only career that they will lose consistency, but the 6 weeks since McCullum last batted in the PSL doesn’t seem to have impacted on him at all. The Gujarat bowling is looking very weak on paper so they need McCullum to go bog  .

Woakes continues.

After 7 overs,Gujarat Lions 64/1 ( Brendon McCullum 34 , Suresh Raina (C) 15)

It seems like the KKR spinners aren’t able to control their lengths. After four good deliveries, Kuldeep drops one short, McCullum hammers it through mid-wicket for a four. The next ball, McCullum charges down and hammers it over the sightscreen. 10 runs off the over. This is looking ominous now. Lions have a dangerous batting line-up, KKR need to stop the run-flow. The pitch is looking very good to bat on.

Kuldeep Yadav into the attack now.

Most runs in IPL:

4112 – SURESH RAINA*

4110 – Virat Kohli 

3877 – Rohit Sharma 

3634 – Gautam Gambhir 

3458 – Chris Gayle

Suresh Raina v Sunil Narine in IPL:

Balls – 43

Runs – 65

Strike rate – 151.16 

Dismissals – 0

After 6 overs,Gujarat Lions 52/1 ( Brendon McCullum 23 , Suresh Raina (C) 14)

All of a sudden things are happening. Raina hits a couple of fours in that over but then survives a dropped catch. A tough one. 50 up for Gujarat Lions. Raina gets his first boundary. Woakes overpitches, Raina thumps it straight back. Woakes manages to get a hand to it but it deflects and still races away. What power! He then backs away, Woakes follows him but Raina still finds a way to flick it through square leg for the second four of the over. Raina again looks ot heave one but gets a top edge, Kuldeep runs to his left, dives but doesn’t manage to hold on to a tough chance. Full marks for the effort. 12 runs off the over.

Chris Woakes into the attack now.

After 5 overs,Gujarat Lions 40/1 ( Brendon McCullum 23 , Suresh Raina (C) 2)

McCullum slowly getting into that beast mode. The KKR spinners are not getting their lengths right. This time Narine is too short. He drops one short outside off, McCullum smashes it over point. And then another one on middle and leg is hammered over deep mid-wicket. Two fours in the over. 11 runs off the over.

Number Cruncher

Sunil Narine’s economy rate in powerplay overs is 5.33 which is the best for any bowler in IPL who has atleast bowled 50 overs.

After 4 overs,Gujarat Lions 29/1 ( Brendon McCullum 13 , Suresh Raina (C) 1)

A mixed over for Chawla. He got the wicket of Roy in that over. But then McCullum hammered him for a huge six over deep mid-wicket. Chawla is still on the shorter side. 7 runs and a wicket off it.

OUT! Chawla strikes early, and it is Jason Roy who has to depart with Gujarat having put 22 on board! Roy looked to hoick that over the leg side, except he picked a delivery that stayed low and skidded after pitching along the leg side. 

Jason Roy c Pathan b Chawla 14(12)

Brendon McCullum vs KKR spinners in IPL:

Ave.-8.14, SR-78.08, Dismissals-7

After 2 overs,Gujarat Lions 16/0 ( Jason Roy 13 , Brendon McCullum 2)

Jason Roy looking in good touch. Gujarat Lions would feel that they should have scored more runs in that Chawla over. The leg spinner was too short on a couple of occasions and missed his lines too. Finch reverse swatted one from middle stump for a four through point. McCullum looks calm and took a couple of singles. Chawla didn’t get much turn.

After 3 overs,Gujarat Lions 22/0 ( Jason Roy 14 , Brendon McCullum 7)

Gujarat Lions are getting one boundary every over. A poor fielding effort from Kuldeep Yadav helped them this time as McCullum cut one and Kuldeep let it through. The former NZ captain has surprisingly looked really calm so far. Just 6 runs off the over.

Sunil Narine into the attack now.

Gujarat Lions in IPL-2016:

The fastest scoring team in powerplay overs – 8.29

The slowest scoring team in the last five overs – 8.98

Surprise, Piyush Chawla will share the new ball.

After 1 over, Gujarat Lions 8/0 ( Jason Roy 8 , Brendon McCullum 0)

A decent start for Gujarat Lions. Boult got some movement off the pitch but strayed in line nad length a couple of times only to get punished. Finch started off well with a powerful straight drive off the second ball of the over. Boult went round the wicket but Finch punches a wide one through point for second boundary of the over. 8 runs off the first over.

Players who have played with most different team-mates in IPL:

124 – DINESH KARTHIK*

123 – Yuvraj Singh

114 – ROBIN UTHAPPA*

Right! The Gujarat Lions openers – Brendon McCullum and Jason Roy – stride out to the middle. Boult will start off.

So the Lions are set to get underway against KKR and as with last season they have loaded their top order with batting. With Jason Roy, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith and Aaron Finch in the top order there is a ridiculous amount of overseas batting firepower. There is no Dwayne Bravo who is yet available, he will be missed. This game will be decided by how well that powerful top order goes against the bowling of Sunil Narine and Chris Woakes. 

Pace v Spin at Rajkot in IPL:

Pace: W-25, Ave-38.86, Eco.-8.65

Spin: W-24, Ave-26.20, Eco.-7.29

GL XI: McCullum, Smith, Roy, Raina, Finch, Karthik, Gony, Praveen, Jakati, Kulkarni, Kaushik.

KKR XI: Gambhir, Uthappa, Pandey, Lynn, Pathan, Suryakumar, Woakes, Chawla, Yadav, Narine, Boult.

Pitch – This is a different a typical Rajkot pitch, there is decent amount of grass on it. But yesterday, the greenish tinge deceived Mumbai Indians at Pune, will be difficult to see how this one pans out.

Number Cruncher

The average first innings score at Rajkot is 157. The chasing team has won four out of five matches at Rajkot so far in IPL. 

Brendon McCullum, Jason Roy, Dwayne Smith and Aaron Finch are the four foreign players for Gujarat Lions.

Gujarat Lions have won both the matches against KKR so far in IPL. While Kolkata Knight Riders have not lost an opening match of the season in last five seasons. 

Trent Boult, Chris Lynn, Chris Woakes, Sunil Narine are the four foreign players for KKR.

Toss – Gautam Gambhir has won the toss and KKR will bowl first.

Watch Ayaz Memon analyse the matches that have happened in IPL 2017 so far, and preview the action scheduled over the weekend, starting with Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Lions this evening. 

#IPL Who do you think will win today's match? Kolkata Knight Riders or Gujarat Lions? https://t.co/kUfMKdink5 #KKRvGL

— Firstpost (@firstpost) April 7, 2017

The Rajkot Stadium is like a mini Zoo right now with 11 Lions & a Tiger.

— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) April 7, 2017

IPL 2017: Kolkata Knight Riders have a game-changer in Trent Boult in Andre Russell’s absencehttp://www.firstpost.com

IPL 2017: Gujarat Lions have team to go beyond playoffs, but reserve bench is a weaknesshttp://www.firstpost.com

IPL 2017 teams: Gujarat Lions full squadhttp://www.firstpost.com

IPL 2017 teams: Kolkata Knight Riders full squadhttp://www.firstpost.com

IPL 2017: Gautam Gambhir’s KKR look to find elusive win over batting-heavy Gujarat Lionshttp://www.firstpost.com

The opening ceremony is underway at Rajkot’s SCA stadium. Bhoomi Trivedi performs.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the third match of IPL 2017 between Gujarat Lions (GL) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot on Friday.