🏏Daily Updates for the ongoing IPL Matches-- M--74, CSK vs GT: Final - Page 6

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants, 68th Match

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Date & Time: May 20, 07:30 PM LOCAL

KKR were the side handed the wooden spoon. They had the personnel, but even their star players were limited. Little did the world know, that the two-time champions would become quintessential scrappers, and dig up new stars. Shardul Thakur single-handedly took them to their first win, and Rinku Singh did the unthinkable to notch up their second.

Head to Head: LSG have won both their games against KKR.

Team Watch

Kolkata Knight Riders

Injury/Unavailability: None reported

Tactics and Matchups: Deepak Hooda and Marcus Stoinis have had trouble picking up Andre Russell's variations, with 4 dismissals in 20 balls for just 8 runs between them. The LSG batters have had no answers to Sunil Narine either, with only one in four of their batters striking at over 100 against him - Deepak Hooda.

Probable XII: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy

Lucknow Super Giants:

Injury/Unavailability: Suryansh Shegde has replaced replaced Jaydev Unadkat in the LSG squad for the rest of the season, as the Saurashtra pacer sustained a shoulder injury during training.

Tactics and Matchups: Quinton de Kock has an average of 37 against Kolkata Knight Riders, at a strike-rate of 152, including a stunning 70-ball 140* against them in the 2022 season - one of the most incredible IPL knocks.

Although recency bias is valid in this case, outside of this knock, de Kock's average falls to a paltry 21 against KKR. However, de Kock has his KKR bowlers he targets - against the spinners (Narine and Chakravarthy), he strikes at 100 and 126 respectively, but he more than makes up for it against the pacers, scoring 89 off 37 at a strike-rate of 240 against Russell, and 44 off 31 at 142 against Shardul.

Probable XII: Quinton de Kock (w), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Prerak Mankad, Krunal Pandya (c), Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Swapnil Singh, Mohsin Khan

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Last date--25th May.

Today is the last day for the league matches. A doubleheader Sunday, which is going to decide which teams will go forward to play final three matches to gain a berth in the IPL 2023 FINAL!

1 Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 69th Match

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Date & Time: May 21, 03:30 PM LOCAL

2 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans, 70th Match

Venue: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Date & Time: May 21, 07:30 PM LOCAL

1 Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 69th Match

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Date & Time: May 21, 03:30 PM LOCAL

The fact that the Sunday afternoon clash at the Wankhede is much more than just another game for the five-time champions is a given. A playoff berth is at stake, and the team is in a must-win situation. The irony is that even a win may not suffice, so complicated is the points' table logjam.

What to expect: Another true surface on offer. This will be the second afternoon game at the venue this season, with the first one going the chasing side's way. Expect the toss-winning captain to bowl first again in line with the trends at this venue.

Team Watch:

Mumbai Indians

MI would be fretting over the availability of Tilak Varma, one of the more successful batters for them in the season, who last played against Punjab Kings on May 3. One between Nehal Wadhera and Vishnu Vinod could make way.

Tactics & matchups: Unleashing a left-arm spinner against Suryakumar would be an option for SRH. Since 2019, Suryakumar strikes against left-arm orthodox spin at only 102 and SRH have Abhishek Sharma and Mayank Dagar in their ranks for this matchup.

Probable XI: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Nehal Wadhera/Tilak Varma, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Vishnu Vinod, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Kumar Kartikeya

SunRisers Hyderabad

On the eve of the game, coach Lara was all praise for Umran Malik and declared that he is fit. The J&K pacer may get a look-in.

Tactics & matchups: Heinrich Klaasen will once again be key against spin in the middle overs. This season, he has scored 260 runs against spin at an average of 130 and a strike-rate of 194. His battle with Piyush Chawla, who has the most wickets between overs 7-15, will be the one to watch out for.

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Kartik Tyagi,/Umran Malik Mayank Dagar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nitish Reddy

2 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans, 70th Match

Venue: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Date & Time: May 21, 07:30 PM LOCAL

A place in the final-four in this hotly-contested season still remains in their grasp. A home win today will keep them ahead of Rajasthan Royals. Then there's the advantage of playing last to deal with any potential NRR situation that might arise with a big Mumbai Indians victory earlier on the same day.

What to expect: There is a forecast for scattered showers in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, and that could add to the qualification drama set to unfold on the final day of the league phase. Subsurface aeration at the ground should allow for quick resumptions if play does get suspended at some point, so a total washout is unlikely. As it is, teams prefer to chase at Chinnaswamy Stadium, and the forecast will only nudge the toss-winning captain further in that direction. Curiously, however, teams batting first have won four of the six games played at the venue so far.

Head to Head: RCB 1-1 GT. Faf du Plessis's side won a similar late-season encounter last year after chasing down GT's 168 rather comfortably.

Team Watch:

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Injury/Availability: Josh Hazlewood will not feature tomorrow after suffering a recurrence of his heel injury

Dinesh Karthik has been battling a bad back and hence used as an impact substitute. He partook in a brief 'keeping drill' on the eve of the game.

Harshal Patel has battled through a fractured finger through the season that has limited his ability as a batter. Mike Hesson revealed that his injury was at an advanced stage of recovery.

Wanindu Hasaranga, after missing a couple of games with injury, is now available for selection again but might find it difficult to pip Michael Bracewell in the XI.

Tactics & Matchups: Harshal Patel has a good record against Hardik Pandya and has dismissed him twice despite having bowled only 11 deliveries at the GT captain. He matches up poorly against David Miller with GT's finisher striking at 151.28 without ever being dismissed by Harshal.

Probable XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj (Impact Sub: Dinesh Karthik)

Gujarat Titans

Injury/Availability: Noor Ahmad sustained an injury to his ankle in the game against SRH but bowled in the nets on the eve of the game without much discomfort.

Vijay Shankar, who missed last game with an injury picked up in practice, has also pulled up well after the five-day break.

Joshua Little has returned to India after his commitments with Ireland and could be welcomed back into the XI.

Tactics & Matchups: The PowerPlay battle between Mohammed Shami and RCB's prolific opening pair of Du Plessis and Kohli will be much anticipated. Shami has dismissed Kohli five times in the IPL but has conceded at a fairly brisk clip of 132.25 over 90 balls. He has also dismissed Du Plessis twice but the RCB captain has got his runs off Shami at a strike-rate of 163.64.

Probable XI: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan/Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little/Alzarri Joseph, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma (Impact Sub: Yash Dayal)

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Last date--22nd May

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In a way, the Members Awards are a celebration of our affiliation with this forum. Over the course of these two months, we were engaged in talking about the matches, players, and match results with each other for a few hours every day.

As moderators of this forum, we're doing our best to make things as easy as possible for our members. I'm requesting everyone to take part and send Savera84 your choices as soon as you can. It won't take much of your precious time, and it will contribute to making the event a huge success. 😊

Aaj sirf toss points aanewala hai 😭

To facilitate different time zones' members, here are a few details regarding today's match.

Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings, Qualifier 1

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Date & Time: May 23, 07:30 PM LOCAL

The high-stakes game will, thus, come down to fine match-ups and finer margins between two teams that have shown identical tendencies to squeeze out every ounce of ability from the squads at their disposal.⭐️

What to expect: A hot evening is in the offing, where temperatures will hit the high 30s. The conditions at the venue suited batters early on, but the wickets have slowed down as the tournament has progressed. It reflected in the scores made at the venue, as the average 1st innings total came down from 182 in the first four games to 150 in the last three. CSK themselves were outspun in their last game there against KKR.

Today's game, however, will be played on pitch #5, where CSK and PBKS played out a high-scoring entertainer where the home team's 200/4 was chased down on the last ball.

Head-to-head: 3-0 to GT. Three games (In 2022 and 2023), three venues (Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad), three successful run-chases for Hardik Pandya's side.

Team watch:

Chennai Super Kings

Injury/Unavailability: CSK have a clean bill of health and no other reported nonavailabilities

Tactics & Match-ups: With Deepak Chahar back to wicket-taking form in the Power Play, the early match-up between him and Shubman Gill will be crucial to the direction the game takes. Gill arrives with scores of 101 and 104* in his last game, and has scored 49 runs in the 37 balls he's faced from Chahar. The CSK pacer, however, has dismissed him twice.

Though Ajinkya Rahane has flattered to deceive in home games, he has an admirable record against Mohammed Shami - smashing 86 at a strike rate of 168.63 without getting dismissed. Against Hardik Pandya, Dhoni could turn to Ravindra Jadeja who has gotten the GT captain out twice in 16 balls and has given away just 18 runs.

Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(c/wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana (Impact sub: Matheesha Pathirana)

Gujarat Titans

Injury/Unavailability: Vijay Shankar regained full fitness ahead of Sunday's league game against RCB and came in as an impact sub to bat at No. 3. Considering Dasun Shanaka hasn't had a lot to do with both bat and ball, GT might turn to Joshua Little, in the XI or as the impact sub. The left-arm pacer, who was away for the Ireland-Bangladesh series, returned to the GT squad ahead of the weekend fixture against RCB. He also trained in Chennai on the eve of the first qualifier.

Tactics & Match-ups: Ruturaj Gaikwad has hit 73, 53 and 92 against GT, but Shami has found ways to put a lid on his scoring early on. The veteran pacer has conceded just 40 runs off the 59 balls he's bowled at the CSK opener. Shami has also been excellent against CSK's top-scorer this season - Devon Conway - dismissing him twice in the eight deliveries he's bowled at him in the IPL.

Mohit Sharma, meanwhile, returns to the city where he made his name in this tournament with 16 wickets in 13 matches there. He has troubled Ambati Rayudu in this tournament, getting him out on six occasions in 43 balls and giving away just 52 runs.

Probable XI: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Sai Sudharsan/Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Yash Dayal (Impact Sub: Joshua Little/Dasun Shanaka)

A few details for today's Match prediction--

Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians,

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Date & Time: May 24, 07:30 PM LOCAL

The Lucknow Super Giants were here just 12 months ago in their inaugural season. Last time, it was RCB that eliminated them, and they would definitely want to progress further in 2023.

What to expect: A humid evening awaits the two sides. Given how the par scores dipped at Chepauk in the second half, even a score of 150 could be a match-winning one.

Team Watch

Lucknow Super Giants

With LSG struggling to find an opening partner for Quinton de Kock, there is a case to recall Kyle Mayers in place of Naveen-ul-Haq. On this surface, Amit Mishra will fancy his chances of being used as an impact sub.

Probable XI: Kyle Mayers, Quinton de Kock (WK), Prerak Mankad, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya (C), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, K Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur

Tactics & Matchups: LSG would dearly love Stoinis to bat deep once again given his extraordinary record against MI's designated death bowler Chris Jordan. Stoinis has hammered a mind-boggling 151 runs against Jordan off just 61 balls. If Rohit does get past the new ball spell, LSG would still fancy their chances against the MI skipper given the success both Mishra and Bishnoi have had against him.

Mumbai Indians

The amount of left-handers in the LSG XI might prompt MI to bring back Hrithik Shokeen. Tilak Varma, who was named a sub for the last game, should make the cut as well.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma/Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Hrithik Shokeen

Dhoni may get banned from Finals it seems for slow over rate..... 😢

There's news floating.....