IPL 2017, Rising Pune Supergiant vs Gujarat Lions: 5 winning factors

#3 Strategy

Will Steve Smith rise to the occasion again?

Both the teams know each other pretty well. After playing three games against each other in the last two seasons, both the teams would have chalked their respective plans.

For GL it will be about getting few early wickets. Ajinkya Rahane has blown hot and cold in this season so far, but he is a class act and GL should dismiss him early. RPS have relied on Tripathi to an extent and getting his wicket, along with Smith, will put more pressure on their middle-order.

The strategy for RPS would be much simpler - get GL’s top three with as little on the board as possible. Because, with Tye out due to injury, GL will depend on their top order batsmen to score a few extra runs and losing their top three would put them under tremendous pressure.