Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) take on table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) in the 51st match of the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) on Sunday, May 7. Gujarat enter this game after thrashing playoff contender Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets and strengthened their top position in the points table further. Afghan spin duo Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad took combined five wickets to bowl out Rajasthan on just 118 runs and then the top order shone with three 30-plus scores to record an easy chase.
Lucknow Super Giants, without skipper KL Rahul, suffered an embarrassing 18-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore while chasing a 127-run target and then avoided another big defeat against CSK due to rain. Under Krunal Pandya's leadership, they were struggling at 125/7 in 19.2 overs when rain stopped the game against CSK. Lucknow are currently placed in the third position in the points table with 11 points while Gujarat leads the chart with 14 points.
Gujarat will be missing the Irish pacer Joshua Little who has joined the national team. Alzarri Joseph is likely to replace the youngster in the playing eleven in the only change. The traveling side is expected to give Quinton de Kock his first game of this season and also bring back Deepak Hooda. Naveen-ul-Haq is most likely to make way for de Kock as Mohsin Khan is back with the team to provide quality pace.
Match Details
Match: IPL 2023, Match 51
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Broadcast and Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and JioCinema
Probable Playing XIs
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma (Impact Player)
Lucknow Super Giants: Kyle Mayers, Quinton de Kock (wk), Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya (c), Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham (Impact Player)
Pitch and Weather Report
The pitch at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium favors batters in T20 cricket. Pace bowlers are comparatively successful this season with the help of extra bounce. The average first innings score here is 164 from 24 IPL matches with teams batting second and winning more games. The average first innings score this season is 179 but Gujarat Titans have lost three of five matches here in IPL 2023.
There is no forecast for rain in Ahmedabad during the same time. Temperature is likely to hover around 39 degree Celsius during game time and there is a 0% of chance of rain.
Predictions
Best Batter of the Match: Shubman Gill
Gujarat Titans' opener provided another good start as he scored 36 off 35 against Rajasthan Royals in the last game. Gill is leading the scoring chart for Gujarat this season with 375 runs from nine games at an average of 37.50 and at a strike rate of 135.86. Gill's strike rate remains a concern for Gujarat and has recorded three ducks in three games against Lucknow. He will be looking to change his fortune against Lucknow with a big knock on Sunday.
Best Bowler of the Match: Mohammed Shami
The experienced Indian pacer took a wicket for Rajasthan Royals in the last game. Shami has taken 18 wickets from 10 innings at an impressive economy rate of 7.10 and is only one wicket behind current leading wicket-taker Tushar Deshpande. Shami has taken six wickets from three innings against Lucknow Super Giants and has dismissed the opponent's skipper Krunal Pandya on three occasions in five innings.
Who will win the Match: Gujarat Titans (GT)
