Follow UsIt’s one vs two at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Tuesday as table-toppers Lucknow Super Giants will take on second-placed Gujarat Titans, the winner of which will not just seal a playoff spot, but most likely confirm a Top Two finish. Despite being 1 and 2 and equal on points, however, both teams will enter the contest on the back of contrasting form. While LSG have won four on the bounce and have thus rocketed to the very top of the table, GT will be entering Tuesday’s clash having lost each of their last two encounters. A fascinating contest awaits us in Pune.
Ground Details
The MCA stadium in Pune will be overseeing the clash between LSG and GT on Tuesday, and the venue has so far been the second-most batter friendly wicket in IPL 2022, with an average first innings score of 174. The venue has hosted 3 games in May already, in the span of 9 days, and all matches have been high scoring encounters, with the first-batting team posting scores of 176, 173 and 202.
A recent trend that is fascinating with respect to the MCA Stadium is the fact that it has been a bat-first venue. Remarkably, each of the last 5 games at the venue have been won by the team batting first. This suggests that, come Tuesday, there will certainly be merit in the captain winning the toss opting to bat first.
Spin will play a key part in the LSG vs GT clash too. Spinners have averaged 31 and have conceded at 7.9 runs per over at the venue, and the last five games have seen numbers for the spinners further drop down to 25.1 (average) and 7.4 (economy).
It goes without saying that the world-class pacers in both LSG and GT will exploit the conditions too, but it’d be worth keeping an eye on how the spinners fare.
Team Selection
Captain selection
He might not be the current holder of the orange cap, but KL Rahul’s remarkable season has not been spoken about enough. With 451 runs to his name he’s the second-highest run-getter in the competition, comfortably ahead of third-placed Faf du Plessis, and has amassed a 103* and 77 in his last 4 innings. He did not trouble the scorers against KKR, but that was because he was, rather tragically, dismissed for a diamond duck. Expect Rahul to make up for the KKR no-show and punish GT come Tuesday.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts Rahul to score 38-56 runs against GT.
X-factors
Krunal Pandya has not received too many plaudits for his showings this season, but he’s been enjoying an impeccable season, contributing equally with both bat and ball. He’s amassed 153 runs with the bat at a strike rate over 130, but it’s his bowling that has really stood out. Krunal has sent down 28 overs this season, and has managed to maintain an astonishing ER of 6.64. Back him to once again come good for his side, come the GT clash on Tuesday.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts Krunal to score 8-12 runs and take 2-3 wickets vs GT
Few expected Mohsin Khan to be a starting XI regular for Lucknow this season, but he’s not just done that; he’s been one of the best seamers in the entire league. Mohsin, after not featuring too much in the first half of the season, has provided LSG’s bowling attack with a cutting edge in the second half, picking 9 wickets at an astounding average of 10.11. He has, in fact, picked 8 wickets across his last 3 games, and would be keen to ravage yet another batting line-up when he takes on the Titans on Tuesday.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts Mohsin to take 2-3 wickets vs Gujarat
Wriddhiman Saha was only integrated into GT’s starting XI a few games into the season, but since being introduced, he’s proved to be one of their key players. Saha has accumulated 209 runs in the season, but crucially has provided the impetus for the side up top. His powerplay bashing has proved valuable to the side and his presence has also enabled them to field the extra foreigen seamer in the form of Alzarri Joseph. It’d be smart to take a punt on the veteran wicket-keeper, heading into Tuesday’s clash.
Our Criclytics Player Projection predicts Saha to score 40-60 runs vs GT
Here are the top-10 picks as per Criclytics projected points
Probable XIs
LSG: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (c), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan
GT: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Pradeep Sangwan, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami