Gujarat Titans hope to go first with a win against KKR

IPL 2022 has reached the halfway stage. Match 35 off 70 sees an in-form Gujarat Titans face a struggling KKR side on 23rd April at the Dr DY Patil Stadium.

Gujarat Titans yielded their top spot to Rajasthan Royals, but they have a game in hand. A win today, takes them to 12 points and back to the top.

It has been a great start in the captaincy role for Hardik Pandya. He has regained his form with both, the bat and the ball. He is definitely 1 of the players to look out for, today.

Current Position in the points table

Gujarat Titans – 2nd, played 6 won 5 lost 1

Kolkata Knight Riders – 7th played 7 won 3 lost 4

Pitch Report

The pitch has something on offer for both, batting and bowling. There is an extra bit of bounce and carry, which world class fast bowlers will look to exploit. Captain winning the toss will like to bowl first, although dew won’t be an issue.

Average 1st Innings score

164

Injury Update

Will update when we get some news regarding an injury.

Probable Playing XI

Gujarat Titans – Shubhman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya(C), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal.

Kolkata Knight Riders – Venkatesh Iyer, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Iyer (c), Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.

Head to Head

This is the first time these 2 teams will meet.

Key Players

Gujarat Titans

Shubman Gill – The Indian has been in great knick off late. He struggled last match against Chennai Super Kings, so would like to put things right, today. He will have to face the wrath of Pat Cummins and Umesh Yadav, before going on to meet KKR star spin duo in Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine.

David Miller – The South African found form the last match, scoring 94* off just 51 balls to guide GT to a close last over win. If GT were to put on a big score/ chase one, they would expect Killer Miller to finish off the innings in style.

Rashid Khan – GT Vice Captain Rashid Khan took charge in their game against CSK, in place of Hardik Pandya, who missed the match due to an injury. He was the star alongside Miller, with the bat this time as he scored a valuable 40 to set up the match for Miller. He has been economical with his bowling as well as chipping in with wickets at crucial intervals. Rashid would like to blow away the struggling KKR middle order. Key battle for Rashid would be against Andre Russell.
The last time KKR faced a world class leggie, they crumbled under pressure as he picked up a hattrick and a fifer.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Aaron Finch – Finch was in form the last time around, scoring a quickfire 58(28). He got KKR off to a great start and put them in a winning positiong alongside Shreyas Iyer. But, Chahal had other plans as he spun a web around the KKR batsmen and picked up a hattrick and a fifer. Finch played a handy knock and would hope to continue his rich vein of form against GT.

Andre Russell – Big Dre Russ has struggled with the bat thus far in the tournament. He has one meaningful score against Punjab Kings, where even he admitted he most of his 6’s did not come from the meat of the bat. If KKR are to win this match, Dre Russ is going to have to play a big role. Given the middle order has hardly fired this season.

Sunil Narine – The West Indian spin wizard has had a decent outing with the ball in this years Tata IPL. He has 6 wickets in 7 matches but, has a more than decent economy of 5.04. The onus will be on him to keep the big hitting middle order of GT quiet for as long as possible.

Who will take the two points, when the teams meet today? Let’s find out.