🏏IPL 2023: Match 30 - GT vs LSG on 22/04/2023 at 3:30 PM IST 🏏

🏏IPL 2023: Match 30 - GT vs LSG at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on 22/04/2023 at 3:30 PM IST 🏏

Tag & Logo Credit: Sevenstreaks

History on Titans' side, but spinners make Super Giants tough to beat at home. Mark Wood's availability could determine the make-up of the pitch for the Saturday game in Lucknow.  How will LSG use their home advantage?

Lucknow Super Giants have won two of the three games they have played at home this season. The two pitches, though, were very different. Against Delhi Capitals, it was a red-soil pitch where Mark Wood picked up a five-wicket haul with his blistering pace. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was a black-soil surface where the Super Giants spinners flourished. Krunal Pandya picked up three wickets and Amit Mishra claimed two. Ravi Bishnoi struck just once, but gave away just 16 runs in his four overs.

Super Giants - with Deepak Hooda as the fourth option - have more depth in the spin department than Gujarat Titans, who have largely relied on just one spinner - Rashid Khan - this season, and banked more on their pace attack. This may tempt Super Giants to opt for another slow turner. That said, Rashid ran through Super Giants with four wickets the last time these two teams met. While Rashid hasn't quite been his miserly self in IPL 2023, he has been among the wickets: he has a strike rate of 10.9 this season compared to 20.1 last season and his IPL career strike rate of 18.8.

Of the other spinners, Titans did play Rashid's compatriot, the left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad, in the loss against Rajasthan Royals, where he bowled 2.2 overs. Rahul Tewatia has not bowled a single delivery this season.

Wood missed Super Giants' last game with illness, and his availability may also determine the kind of track they prepare against a team that they lost to twice last season - including the first ever game both the franchises played in the IPL.

Lucknow Super Giants vs Gujarat Titans Pitch Report

The pitch at the Ekana Cricket Stadium is a bit slow in nature. The ball tends to hold a bit on the surface and the batters will have to be on their toes while batting here. The spinners will play a major role while bowling at this venue.

Lucknow Super Giants vs Gujarat Titans Weather Forecast

The temperature in Lucknow is expected to range between 22 and 37 degrees Celsius.

Form guide

Lucknow Super Giants WLWWL (l ast five matches, most recent first)

Gujarat Titans LWLWW

Team news: Is Wood good to go?

Mark Wood's illness is the only fitness concern for Super Giants. Titans have no injury worries, though Hardik Pandya's workload is always a matter of interest.

Impact Player strategy

Lucknow Super Giants: While batting first, Super Giants have started with Ayush Badoni and subbed either him or Kyle Mayers out for Mishra. But when they have suffered a collapse, K Gowtham has been used as the Impact Player to shore up the batting. While bowling first, Mishra starts and Badoni comes in as the substitute when they bat.

Probable XII: 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Kyle Mayers/Quinton de Kock, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Yudhvir Singh, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Naveen-ul-Haq/Mark Wood, 12 Amit Mishra

Gujarat Titans: Titans have been happy to start with three overseas players while batting first, with one of Josh Little or Noor coming in as the Impact Player in the second innings. They have, however, stuck to starting with four overseas players while chasing, with Vijay Shankar likely to be subbed in.

Probable XII: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Vijay Shankar, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohit Sharma, 12 Josh Little/Noor Ahmad

Stats that matter

• Hardik has faced Krunal in two games, both coming in the IPL last year, and scored ten runs off 13 deliveries while being dismissed once.
• Nicholas Pooran's strike rate of 63 against Rashid is the lowest for any batter in T20s who has faced at least 40 deliveries from Rashid.
• Super Giants have taken 19 wickets in the last five overs this season, the highest for any team. Their economy of 9.7 in this phase is the joint second-best in the league.

Quotes

"Vijay, who battled last season a little bit, he wanted to come back and prove that he is a player to be reckoned with. He got himself in great physical condition and his training and work ethic at the nets has been second to none."

Gary Kirsten on Vijay Shankar's improved form in IPL 2023

Anchors may no longer be cool in T20s but when you have a couple of designated ones in KL Rahul and Shubman Gill going up against each other, the conditions better be relevant for the face-off. And Lucknow has the stage set for it. Saturday's afternoon game between the sides will be played on a used black-soil pitch, so those hoping to keep a tally of the sixes may want to look somewhere else.

Gujarat Titans wouldn't mind such conditions at this point in their campaign. They haven't been able to defend totals very well this season - losing two in two - and have been consistently beaten by teams out-muscling them with the big hits. This pitch and near-identical ground dimensions on both sides of the square in Lucknow could instead play to one of their strengths of late, i.e. keeping the dot-ball percentage to a minimum. The defending champions are also coming back from a five-day break, giving them the opportunity for a new take at what's been an inconsistent campaign at best. And what better team to start against than LSG, whom they beat last year to become the first team to make it to the Play-offs.

For Lucknow Super Giants, it's an opportunity to build on their fantastic win in Jaipur. On a slow pitch at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Kyle Mayers adjusted well to the task at hand and scored his half-century at an uncharacteristic strike-rate of 120. It was also the game where the season came alive for Avesh Khan, and his breakthrough performance couldn't have come at a better time for LSG, who play three of their next four games at home. They wouldn't mind kicking it off with their first ever victory over GT, a side they couldn't beat in two attempts last year.

What to expect: A game of attrition. The match is being played on pitch #6 on the square and will bring with it a new set of dynamics. The first three IPL games here have witnessed 193 playing 143, 121 playing 127 and 159 playing 161, so what scores awaits us in this game is anybody's guess. But what's known is that the square is very dry and the curators are trying their best to make do this season before looking at long-term solutions.

Fortunately for the players, the temperatures have come down lately in Lucknow but that's not to suggest that an afternoon game wouldn't test the players.

Teams

Lucknow Super Giants

Quinton de Kock batted beside KL Rahul during practice but after Mayers' fifty in the last game, it looks unlikely that he will get a crack. Mark Wood didn't play the last game in Jaipur and he's unlikely to play the afternoon game, especially with Naveen-ul-Haq starting well in his absence. The Afghanistan pacer looked unflappable bowling to the likes of Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal on his IPL debut and will be keen to emulate the same at home.

Tactics & matchups: Kyle Mayers strikes at under 89 against left-arm pacers and will have to come out trumps against the challenge of Joshua Little.

Probable XI: KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Avesh Khan, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ravi Bishnoi

Gujarat Titans

Vijay Shankar has been in and out with back spasms and even missed the last game. If he's fit, he should slot back right in for Abhinav Manohar.

Tactics & matchups: Expect Rashid Khan to bowl in the PowerPlay to KL Rahul, whom he has dismissed thrice already. The LSG opener averages 6 and strikes at 60 against the legspinner.

Probable XI: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar/Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma/Noor Ahmad (Impact Player)

Did you know?

- In their last encounter against GT, LSG were bowled out for 82 inside 14 overs.- KL Rahul vs Mohammed Shami in IPL: 18 balls, 13 runs, 2 dismissals- Avesh Khan has enjoyed success against Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya, getting both the batters out twice.