Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2016, Match 15 at Rajkot: Brendon McCullum vs Musafizur Rahman and 3 other key battles

Two sides with contrasting starts lock horns tonight when the Gujarat Lions (GL) welcome the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot in the 15th match of VIVO IPL 2016.

GL have started the campaign with a hundred percent record from their first three games and will be looking to continue their good form at home. The Suresh Raina led team have been clinical in all areas and seem to be early contenders for the title.

SRH have had a topsy-turvy beginning to their season, with two losses followed by a convincing David Warner-led win against Mumbai Indians in their previous match. Warner will be hoping that the rest of his side can follow in his footsteps if they are to mount a challenge to a well-oiled GL side.

With both sides geared up for the tie, let’s look at some of the battles that could decide the outcome:

Brendon McCullum vs Mustafizur Rahman

“The Fizz” Rahman has been virtually unplayable ever since he burst onto the scene and tonight will be no different. As Andre Russel found out, he can be very deceptive with his variations in pace and unassumingly quick through the air.

Up against him will be a man who has scant regard to what the opposition bowler can or cannot do. Throughout his career, Brendon McCullum has been a devastating batsman, looking to stamp his authority over the best opposition bowler.

His attack on Dale Steyn in the World Cup semi-final comes to mind and SRH will fully know that once Mac gets going, it’s a battering ram that they will be up against. He has had a slight weakness against left-arm bowlers though and ‘The Fizz’ will be looking to exploit that chink when these two face up to each other.

Suresh Raina vs Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

Having been teammates in the national side, Raina would have faced Bhuvi hundreds of times in the nets and should know all about him. The same applies the other way around. But in T20, any kind of know-how one may have goes out of the window.

Kumar has always been a very accurate if not very threatening bowler and will look to stifle Raina and nip his inning in the bud itself. Being trusted to the job at the death, Bhuvi could well come up against Raina in full flow.

In full flow is what GL would want Raina to be. He hasn’t been in the best of form, but the IPL has always brought out the best in Raina as we’ve seen time and again for the suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK). It will be up to Bhuvi to prevent Raina from rediscovering his form.

David Warner vs James Faulkner

Another pair of national teammates will face up to each other when David Warner faces James Faulkner. The belligerent Warner, who made a name for himself through this format before making the step up to ODI and Test Cricket, will be looking to get his side off to a blazing start and put the newly formed GL attack under pressure straightaway.

Faulkner, on the other hand, will know what Warner is capable of and will be looking to prevent him getting away. With a plethora of variations and a cool head under pressure, he is just the right man for this format as he has shown time and again.

Raina will hope that he can improve on his showing so far, as with combined figures of 10-0-94-1 in three matches he hasn’t been too flattering.

Eoin Morgan vs Pravin Tambe

Morgan has had a nightmare few weeks with the bat. That the paragraph has to start with this sentence is testimony to how poor he has been. England at times played with a batsman short, is how poor his form has been. He has got a fifty in this year’s IPL and SRH will bank on his experience and ability to clear the ropes.

If Morgan does get going, there will be fireworks at the end. To stop him, GL will bank on the experience of the wily old fox, Pravin Tambe. Tambe has belied his increasing years and turned in top drawer performances in the IPL for the Rajasthan Royals (now dissolved) earlier and now for the GL.

Morgan has had a few problems facing spin early on and Tambe would look to capitalize on that. With the ball turning into the left-hander though, Morgan may find it easier and the winner of this battle might well be the difference between a big score and a collapse.