RPS vs GL Match Prediction: Who will win today's match between Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions

Rising Pune Supergiant will welcome the Gujarat Lions for the 39^th encounter of IPL 2017. While RPS have left a disappointing previous season behind them and occupy the fourth spot on the table, GL have failed to replicate their performances and languish on the sixth spot.

The home team, Pune, are coming into the game on the back of a landslide 61 runs victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gujarat, on the other hand, lost their last encounter with Mumbai Indians. However, the Raina-led team will take a lot of confidence from their performance, especially bowling and fielding as they managed to drag MI to a super over, despite scoring just 153 runs in the first innings.

This year, under Steve Smith’s captaincy and MS Dhoni’s guidance, RPS are ‘rising’ in stature and can be considered as one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Though the team is missing Ben Stokes due to his injury, they managed to find an able replacement in Lockie Ferguson, who was the Man of the Match against RCB.

Imran Tahir has led their bowling department with aplomb and will look to continue his form against the visitors.

Gujarat Lions, on the other hand, have won only three of their nine matches this season and are desperate for a win. GL were the strongest team in last year’s IPL but haven’t been able to find a proper batting and bowling combination so far. While Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina have been strong up top, the lower middle-order seems weak and unstable.

In the absence of Dwayne Bravo, the team has leaked way too many runs and even world-class bowlers like Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner have been unable to confuse the batsmen.

When these two teams met each other earlier in the tournament, GL won the match by 7 wickets.

Both the teams will go into this match knowing that a win would help them move closer to the fourth playoff spot and on that note, here we predict the winner of the encounter which will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

Date: May 1^st

Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association, Pune

Time: 20:00 IST

If RPS bat first

Predicted score: 170+

Opener Rahul Tripathi is in great form and has helped his team get to a good start consistently. Though Rahane has not been at his best, he has been handling the pressure well. The middle order is also fairly strong with Steve Smith and MS Dhoni coming in at no. 3 and 4.

Dhoni returning to form is a big boon for the team and with players like Manoj Tiwary and Dan Christian coming after him, Gujarat bowlers will find it hard to restrict them to a low total.

If GL bat first

Predicted score: 180+

As batting is Gujarat’s major strength, they will not settle for anything less than 170-180. With players like Brendon McCulum, Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch in the ranks, Lions will be looking to dominate the weak RPS bowling line-up.

However, as it is an away match, it will be interesting to see how their batsmen adapt to the conditions and the pitch.

Predicted winners: Rising Pune Supergiant