dwayne smith
Dwayne Smith has been a key player for the Gujarat Lions in IPL 2016 Getty

Gujarat Lions take on Mumbai Indians in the 54th match of the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) at Green Park in Kanpur on 21 May.

Where to watch live

Match starts at 3.30pm BST/8pm IST. Live coverage of the game is available on Sky Sports 5 and Sky Sports 5 HD in the UK. Sony Max, Sony Six and Sony ESPN will telecast it live in India.

Overview

The business end of the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League sees Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians face-off in what is a must-win game for both teams. The Lions come into the fixture as a safe team as they have 16 points on board, a figure which should see them qualify for the play-off stage. Currently placed second on the table, a win against Mumbai will guarantee them a top-two finish.

A loss could mean that they could lose their second spot to either Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore or Delhi Daredevils depending on the results. However, the Lions would not want to settle for anything but a win, and a favourites to do as considering their thrashing of Kolkata Knight Riders in their last game.

Dwayne Smith was the surprise weapon with the ball and scaled four wickets for only eight runs in his four overs, his best figures in T20 cricket, while skipper Suresh Raina showed glimpses of his old self, striking 53 runs off just 36 balls. Their most destructive batsman Brendon McCullum has been quiet after a positive start to the tournament and they will be looking for him to fire as it will make it easier for the rest of the batsmen to follow.

rohit sharma
Rohit Sharma is Mumbai Indians leading run-scorer in IPL 2016 with 459 runs so far Getty

Opponents Mumbai Indians are aware that a loss here would end their hopes of advancing to the play-off stage. They are currently placed fifth with 14 points from 13 games with a net run rate of -0.082.

Rohit Sharma's side usually start slow only too blast off at the end, but this year with the competition so tight it seems like a tough ask for his side. In Mitchell McClenaghan they have the current Purple cap holder with 17 wickets, while the skipper himself is fifth on the run-scoring charts with 459 runs. They have a number of superstars in their team and in Kieron Pollard, Martin Guptill, Jos Buttler and Tim Southee they should be doing better in terms of performance.

It is going to be a tough match to predict with both sides capable of exhilarating performances on their day.

Prediction

Mumbai Indians to win

Betting odds (888sport)

  • Gujarat Lions to win: 10/11
  • Mumbai Indians to win: 10/11

Team news

Gujarat Lions

Possible XI: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (C), Aaron Finch, Dinesh Kathik (WK), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe, Shadab Jakati.

Mumbai Indians

Possible XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Martin Guptill, Ambati Rayudu, Krunal Pandya, Nitish Rana, Jos Buttler (WK), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah.