Gujarat Lions vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016, Qualifier 1: Where to watch live, prediction, betting odds, streaming info

Gujarat Lions take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in qualifier one of 2016 Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on 24 May.

Where to watch live

Match starts at 3:30pm BST/8pm IST. Live coverage is on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD in the UK. Set Max, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD will telecast it in India. Click here for the live streaming link.

Overview

The 2016 Indian Premier League has been a closely fought competition this year and 24 May will see the 57<sup>th match of the tournament with Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore facing off in Qualifier 1 for a direct place in the final.

Leaders at the end of the league stage with 18 points, Gujarat Lions, have performed admirably considering this is their first season in the IPL. They come into this clash full of confidence on the back of consecutive wins and know they stand a chance of not only winning the qualifier but also the tournament.

Their foreign imports have stood up at crucial moments while local lads have given the team immense support. Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum and skipper Suresh Raina have all scored over 300 runs in the IPL so far, while Dwayne Bravo and Dhawal Kulkarni have picked up 15 and 14 wickets respectively.

The idea of moving Dwayne Smith to the middle order gives them more options while Aaron Finch gets to open, a position he is most comfortable in. They are not expected to make any changes to the playing XI that won them their last two games, but looking at the small dimensions of the Bangalore stadium, their bowlers cannot afford to err in length.

On the other hand, such has been the form of the Royal Challengers Bangalore that a late surge saw them move from seventh place on the table to second spot. The Bangalore outfit have won a remarkable six games on the trot, their famed batting line-up destroying bowling attacks on the way to the qualifiers.

A lot has been said about their batting, with skipper Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers leading from the front. The orange cap holder Kohli has an astonishing 919 runs from 14 games while De Villiers is on 603 runs from similar number of games. The onus will be on them to win the title for the Bangalore team.

From struggling at the start of the tournament to actually having one of the better bowling attacks, Bangalore has seen their bowlers rise as the competition progressed. Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has shone, picking up 18 wickets in just 11 games to pick up the purple cap while Shane Watson has given him support with 16 wickets.

Playing at home they come in as favourites and barring any last minute injury they will play the same team that helped them beat Delhi in the previous game.

Prediction

Royal Challengers Bangalore to win

Betting Odds (betfair)

• Gujarat Lions to win: 6/5
• Royal Challengers Bangalore to win: 5/8

Team News

Gujarat Lions

Possible XI: Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (C), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dwayne Smith, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Eklavya Dwivedi, Shadab Jakati, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Possible XI: Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, KL Rahul (wk), Shane Watson, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Chris Jordan, Iqbal Abdulla, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal.