Gujarat Titans hope to extend lead at the top

IPL 2022: 1st match of the double header on Saturday sees table toppers Gujarat Titans face struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium.

Previous Result

Royal Challengers Bangalore lost out to Rajasthan Royals in a low scoring encounter. RCB did well to restrict RR to a meagre 144 runs.
But, the Rajasthan Royals bowling attack got the better of the RCB batsmen, as RCB could only manage 115 runs.

2 low scores in 2 successive games for RCB. With the business end of the IPL approaching fast, RCB need to buckle up or risk losing out on the playoffs.

Gujarat Titans on the other hand, won a high scoring thriller, where Rashid Khan starred with the BAT to help beat his former team SRH.

Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia scored 71 runs together in just 32 balls to help GT over the line. Rashid Khan hit 3 6’s in the last 4 balls to earn a last gasp victory for Gujarat.

Also read: https://www.sportstrumpet.com/ipl2022-if-virat-wants-to-have-a-prolonged-career-at-the-top-he-should-take-a-break-from-this-new-season-of-ipl-ravi-shastri/

Head to Head

This is the 1st meeting between the two teams.

Pitch Report

The pitch at the Braboune Stadium has something to offer for both, batsmen and bowlers. With this being a day game, we can expect the ball coming onto the bat nicely. We can predict a high scoring thriller, especially with the small boundaries. Since it is a day game, we can expect the captain winning the toss to choose to bat first.

Injury news

Will be updates as soon as we get the news of an injury.

Probable Playing XI

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

Royal Challengers Bangalore – Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (C), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood.

Key Players

Gujarat Titans

Hardik Pandya – The Gujarat Titans Skipper has been in outstanding form with the bat. Hardik is 4th in the list of highest run getters this time around with 305 runs in 7 matches. Pandya has scored these runs at an impressive strike rate of 137.39 and an average of 61! To go along with his runs at the top, Pandya has also picked up 4 wickets in his 7 matches. Although Hardik hasn’t bowled since his injury this IPL, we expect him to come up trumps, if he does decide to bowl. A commendable effort from the skipper, given this his debut season as a captain. He has GT on the cusp of qualifying for the playoffs.

Rashid Khan – Gujarat’s vice captain and stand in skipper has been an integral part of the dominant GT side. Not only has Rashid been brilliant with the ball, he has mastered the technique of hitting long balls at the end to win matches for Gujarat. With Hardik Pandya off the field many a times, Rashid has marshalled his troops very well. Rashid has picked up 8 wickets in as many matches with an impressive average of just 28.38!

Mohammed Shami – With the RCB top order low on confidence and misfiring each game, Shami would be looking at potential wickets upfront. The Indian pacer has picked up 13 wickets in 8 matches, including a 3fer last time around vs SRH. This has taken Shami to the 4th place in the race for Purple cap.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli – One of the reasons RCB has been struggling is because of the former Indian Captain misfiring. Kohli has had a forgettable IPL season, scoring just 128 runs in 9 matches, with a strike rate of 119.63. If RCB are to qualify for the playoffs, they need Kohli to start firing! It will not be an easy ask today, given GT arguably have the best bowling line up, this season.

Dinesh Karthik – One of the few stars to have actually performed for RCB this season is their wicket keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik. Karthik has been in tremendous form, hitting all the bowlers all around the ground. Dinesh Karthik has scored 216 runs, at a strike rate of 198.17! If RCB are to chase/ put up a big score on the board, they would be hoping that Karthik can continue his big hitting form.

Faf Du Plessis – Karthik, along with RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis are the only 2 RCB batsmen, who have scored more than 200 runs in the Tata IPL 2022. Faf has been inconsistent with his form with the bat. While he has scored a personal best of 96, Faf has struggled to get going in a couple of matches as well. The RCB skipper has scored 278 runs in 9 innings at a strike rate of 128.11. If RCB want to stand a chance of beating Gujarat tonight, they need Faf to fire at the top of the innings.

The match today afternoon between RCB and GT promises to be an enthralling watch.