Match facts
Gujarat Lions v Sunrisers Hyderabad
Kanpur, May 13, 2017
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)
Head-to-head
This season: After Rashid Khan's 3 for 19 restricted Gujarat Lions to 135 for 7, an unbroken century stand between David Warner and Moises Henriques handed Sunrisers Hyderabad a nine-wicket victory at home.
Overall: Sunrisers have a commanding 4-0 lead over Lions, having secured all their wins while chasing.
In the news
Ashish Nehra missed the last Sunrisers game with a hamstring injury and there are some doubts over Yuvraj Singh's fitness as well. Their availability for the game on Saturday is as yet unclear.
Qualification scenario
A Sunrisers win against Lions will put them in the playoffs. Even if they lose, they could sneak in provided Rising Pune Supergiant beat Kings XI Punjab on Sunday. However, if Sunrisers lose and Kings XI defeat Pune, David Warner and his men will be pushed out of the playoffs.
The likely XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kane Williamson/ Mohammad Nabi, 4 Yuvraj Singh/Deepak Hooda, 5 Moises Henriques, 6 Naman Ojha (wk), 7 Vijay Shanker, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohammed Siraj, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Siddarth Kaul
Gujarat Lions: 1 Dwayne Smith, 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Aaron Finch, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Dhawal Kulkarni, 9 Pradeep Sangwan, 10 Basil Thampi, 11 Ankit Soni
Strategy punt
Shikhar Dhawan has been dismissed four times by James Faulkner while managing only 23 runs off 24 balls in the IPL. So, perhaps, there is a case for Lions to hand the new ball to Faulkner and let him have an early crack against Dhawan. The slightly two-paced nature of the Green Park surface might also assist Faulkner's variations.
Stats that matter
Siddarth Kaul has been Sunrisers' most effective bowler in their last five matches, picking up 13 wickets at an economy rate of 7.65. He has also been their best bowler in the slog overs in the side's last five matches, taking seven wickets, two more than his team-mate Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Strong performances at the top mean Sunrisers' lower order (No. 5 or lower) is largely untested. The lower-order batsmen have faced only an average of 17 balls per innings and have contributed only 14.7% of the team's total runs - the lowest by any team this season.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has dismissed Dwayne Smith three times in the IPL while conceding 38 off 39 balls.
Among all the teams, Lions' spin contingent has put in the worst performance, returning nine wickets at an average of 86.33 and economy rate of 8.98.
That Lions' bowling attack has failed to click this season could be down to their over-reliance on Andrew Tye, who had pulled out of the tournament at the end of last month because of injury, and Basil Thampi. The two seamers have taken 23 wickets between them; all their 16 other bowlers have bagged 31 among them.
