An early IPL 2022 playoffs berth will be on the line, as the table-toppers, Lucknow Super Giants will face the Gujarat Titans in the 57th Match of the 2022 Indian Premier League. The way both the teams have played so far, looks as if they have been a part of the league since its inception.
KL Rahul led Lucknow Super Giants and season rival Gujarat Titans are at the No. 1 and No. 2 spot respectively with 16 points each. However, the Lucknow franchise has an upper hand over Gujarat, as they are drastically ahead of Gujarat in the Net Run Rate (NRR) race.
Lucknow with an NRR of +0.703 and Gujarat on the other hand with an NRR of +0.120 will fight for a slot in the qualifiers. The season victory graph of Gujarat seems to be moving towards the X-axis, with a classic hot run since the beginning of the season, Gujarat finally got the taste of the back to back defeat in the last two matches. LSG on the other hand has won four matches in a row and would like to continue their winning streak as well as book a seat in the Qualifiers.
As the battle between the brothers continues, Gujarat Titans’ Hardik Pandya and Lucknow Super Giants’ Krunal Pandya will face each other for the second time in the tournament. After getting defeated by the Gujarat Titans in the season opener, Lucknow Super Giants will be looking forward to avenging their defeat in this cracker.
With batters like KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni and Marcus Stoinns, the Lucknow Super Giants’ batting order’s total average stands at 23.27. Whereas Gujarat Titans’ unstable batting order contains players like Hardik Pandya, Shubhman Gil, David Miller, Wridhiman Saha, Rahul Tewatia and Sai Sudharsan, their average batting score stands at 22.81.
This clearly shows that the Lucknow Super Giants’ batting average is quite strong when compared to the Gujarat Titans. However, the numbers may not accurately define the scenario, since Gujarat has juggled a lot of batters so far, their chance of scoring a higher batting average becomes lesser. To back, if we take the three middle-order batters from both the team who have played all 11 matches so far, the numbers would be different.
A stable batter at No. 3 is still a concern for Gujarat, but thanks to match-winners like David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, who have managed to keep the team ahead in the play-offs. Having played many games where the results could have gone either way, the third loss in a row might shake the Titans' confidence and their aim to hold any of the top two spots in the group stage.
The surface at the MCA Stadium Pune helps batters initially but also assists spinners as the game progresses. The chasing team has an advantage on the wickets at MCA Stadium in Pune, however, for teams like Gujarat Titans, it may become advantageous for them to bat first, and use their star spinner Rashid Khan as and when the pitch changes in favour of the spinners. The boundary size is approximately 80-85 meters, easing out the chances of hitting sixes for the batters like David Miller, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul.
The weather report suggests the temperature to hover around 29°C on the matchday with 64% humidity and 19 km/hr wind speed. There are no chances of precipitation during the game.
Wicket-keeper: KL Rahul, Wridhiman Saha
Batter: Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Shubhman Gil, David Miller
All-rounder: Jason Holder, Hardik Pandya
Bowler: M Khan, Rashid Khan, M Shami
Captain: KL Rahul, Shubhaman Gil
Vice-Captain: Rashid Khan, Marcus Stoinis
Venue: MCA Stadium, Pune
Date & Time: May 10, 7:30 PM IST
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network for Television and Disney + Hotstar app for live streaming.
A fair and simple game is ahead and the stakes are too high for the teams. Will Gujarat Titans be able to do a double over Lucknow? Will Lucknow Super Giants be able to avenge their defeat? Or will Gujarat Titans will continue their losing streak?
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