The Supergiants will go into Friday’s contest with two wins and four defeats to their name which currently places them in sixth position on four points.
The three sides immediately above them in the table have six points. The Delhi Daredevils however, have a game in hand, while the Mumbai Indians, who face the Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, have played a game more.
However, they will have to be at their best, if they want to overcome the Lions, who have already accumulated 10 points, with five wins and just one defeat so far in the 2016 IPL. Only the Knight Riders have lost as few matches.
The two teams have already played each other this season, when two weeks ago at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot the Lions won by 7-wickets with two overs remaining.
On that occasion, Faf du Plessis led Pune’s efforts with the bat, scoring 69 off of 43 balls, striking four sixes along the way. However, they needed more than cameo appearances by Kevin Pietersen and MS Dhoni, as they finished with 163-5, which ultimately proved to be 20-25 runs short of a winning total.
The Lions international openers, Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum put on 85 in just over eight overs, and set their side well on the way to securing the points. Finch is the Lions to score in 2016, with 191 runs to his name, which places him tenth in the race for the Orange Cap.