Overview
After playing six matches, Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants have won four games each and are competing for the top position in the IPL 2023 points table. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings slot in at a lowly seventh, but have only one win less than Lucknow and Rajasthan. The competition for the top positions seems like a Formula-1 race, where one loss for X could lead to Y overtaking them in the table. On April 22, two of the front-runners – Lucknow and Gujarat Titans – go head-to-head in a crucial clash in Lucknow.
Lucknow would be boosted by their gutsy performance against Rajasthan. On a two-paced surface, Lucknow’s bowlers bowled into the pitch, mixing up slower ones and the occasional hard-length delivery to keep the pressure on Rajasthan. Incidentally, conditions could be similar in Lucknow, albeit the pitch could offer a little more bounce for the pace bowlers. That could mean Mark Wood, their leading wicket-taker and fastest bowler, returning to the side despite Naveen-ul-Haq’s sterling show in the last game.
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On the batting front, Quinton de Kock continues to find himself out of the side, with Kyle Mayers chipping in with useful contributions. KL Rahul has returned to some kind of form with a couple of decent contributions, but the strike-rate remains an issue. So, the onus would again be on the duo of Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis to turbocharge the Lucknow engine. One of the concerns for Lucknow would be the form of Deepak Hooda, who has got into double-digits only once in the tournament so far.
On the other hand, Gujarat, the defending champions, seemed to have a lot of the bases covered. But after playing five games, a few chinks have also come to the fore. One of them is their lack of incisiveness in the slog overs. Rajasthan added as many as 64 runs in the last 32 balls against Gujarat, while on the back of Rinku Singh’s heroics, Kolkata collected 52 from the last four overs. Perhaps Mohit Sharma’s variations could help them to plug this hole in the matches to come.
The think-tank might also point out Rashid Khan won’t go for more than 10 an over every single day. Whatever it is, Gujarat need to tighten a few screws as far as bowling in the slog is concerned. The batting unit, though, seems to be functioning quite well, with the likes of David Miller and Shubman Gill excelling in their respective roles.
Venue and Time
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. 7.30 PM.
Expected conditions
The humidity is set to be around 30 per cent, so the dew perhaps wouldn’t come into play much. Having said that, the team winning the toss is set to bowl again. The weather forecast also predicts little or no chance of rain.
Head-to-head
Gujarat have won both their matches against Lucknow.
Possible XIs and Impact Player Watch
Lucknow could look at Amit Mishra or Jaydev Unadkat as the Impact sub. K Gowtham is another option. Meanwhile, Gujarat could consider Noor Ahmed or Srikar Bharat.
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (C), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh, Naveen-ul-Haq/Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan, Hardik Pandya (C), David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma.
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