We have another double header in the Indian Premier League on Saturday with the opening game of the two seeing two of the top four meeting when the Lucknow Super Giants host the Gujarat Titans in the next game in the IPL 2023 season.
Lucknow have made a positive start to the season with four wins from their opening six matches while the defending champions Gujarat are a win behind having played a match less. Whoever wins here will be in a decent position.
Lucknow Super Giants
The Lucknow Super Giants have made a very positive start to the season with four wins and another here will take them to the top of the table for a short while. It will also continue to vindicate the decision to leave Quinton de Kock on the sideline and go with Kyle Mayers instead. A fifth win at the halfway mark would also leave the Super Giants nicely placed to push for a top two finish which would give them two bites of the cherry when it comes to making the final.
The good thing for the Super Giants is that they have shown they can win high scoring thrillers and they also proved they can defend inadequate looking totals and it is that variety which makes team carry plenty of confidence. Lucknow didn’t just defend a below par total, they did it against the leaders Rajasthan and did it without Mark Wood so there are a lot of positives for the home side right now.
Gujarat Titans
The defending champions Gujarat Titans have made an acceptable start to the defence of their title. They have three wins and two defeats to their name and will know they threw one of the matches which they lost away when the Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off some ridiculous pyrotechnics in the final over to beat them. The other loss was when the Rajasthan Royals gained revenge against them for their defeat in the final last season. Gujarat will be happy with their start to the season and will want to push on from here.
If there is a criticism to be levelled at the Titans then it would come in the form of them being a lot better and more reliable when chasing a score rather than setting one. They seem to have the art of pacing a run chase mastered but when it comes to defending a score the lack of a world class death bowler can come back to haunt them. Unless they can find a way to guarantee winning the toss that could always make them vulnerable , particularly in a knockout clash.
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Key Players
KL Rahul us the top class Indian player in this Lucknow Super Giants team and if he can get his team off to a fast start then with the death bowling haunting Gujarat, the home side would very much be ahead of the game.
We haven’t seen anything like the sort of cricketer that puts fear into the opposition with the bat from Hardik Pandya yet and now wouldn’t be a bad time to show it. It would be useful if he could deliver with the ball as well.
Betting
I think the fact that this wicket can play a little indifferent suits the Lucknow Super Giants. I think they have the better bowling options available to them depending on the conditions and unlike the Gujarat Titans I think the Super Giants can win whether they bat first or second. I wouldn’t want to be on the Titans if they are batting first. We’ve seen already in this tournament that they are struggling at the death with the ball and the hitters Lucknow have down the order could take advantage of that.
I also think that Gujarat are better when their batters have a surface underneath them that allows them to hit through the line of the ball. When the ball does a bit off the pitch or sticks in it they can get bogged down and struggle. We’ve seen Lucknow use a number of bowling resources to good effect and they still have class acts on the bench waiting to come into the side. I think Lucknow should be favourites here but I’m happy to take them as outsiders.
Tips
Back Lucknow Super Giants to beat Gujarat Titans for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Betway
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