Indian T20 League 2023

GUJ vs MUM, Qualifier 2

Preview

GUJ and MUM will fight it out in Qualifier 2 for facing CHE in the Final of the Indian T20 League 2023. The match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, 26th May. 

After losing to MS Dhoni’s CHE in the 1st Qualifier, the defending champions GUJ failed to seal a place in the Indian T20 League final. Hardik Pandya and his boys will have another chance in this game, to play back-to-back two finals being started their journey in 2022. 

In Wednesday’s Qualifier-1 game, Chennai chose to bat first and the splendid performance from their openers gave them a solid start against Gujarat. While Devon Conway smashed 40 runs off 34 balls, Ruturaj Gaikwad went on to score 60 runs off 44 deliveries which assisted Chennai to draft 172 runs on the scoreboard with a loss of 7 wickets. Gujarat bowlers performed well especially Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma who picked up two wickets each. Also, the spin wizard, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Darshan Nalkande took one wicket apiece to restrict the CHE batters barring the openers. 

Later, opener Shubman Gill’s 42 runs knock gave GUJ a fair headstart in the second innings. Barring Rashid Khan (30 off 16), every other player in the team failed to convert their innings to a big score. No other batter except these two scored over 20 runs and this led to a saddening 15-run defeat for the defending champions.

On the other side, Mumbai’s splendid performance against Lucknow in the Eliminator shows how confident they are when it comes to the knockout stage of such a paramount event. After their opening batters failed to score runs, Cameron Green’s 41 off 23 balls and Suryakumar Yadav’s 33 runs off 20 deliveries came in as a relief in the middle order. Also, Nehal Wadhera played a bombastic cameo of 23 runs off just 12 balls at the end to put a total of 182 runs on the scoreboard. Resistance came in from the services of Naveen-ul-Haq (four wickets) and Yash Thakur (three wickets) to keep the run flow under check. 

Lucknow needed 183 runs to seal their place for Qualifier 2 but Mumbai youngster Akash Madhwal came in a stunner for the Lucknow batters. Madhwal picked up a fifer giving away just five runs in his 3.3-over term. Barring Marcus Stoinis (40 runs off 27 balls) no other batsman took a stand for the LUC side which led the whole team to bend down to their knees in just 16.3 overs. The increasing run rate tightened the rope around their neck which led to the quick collapse of their batting order.

With this splendid win, Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai is now set to face the defending champions Gujarat in Qualifier 2 of the Indian T20 League and the winning side will face MS Dhoni’s Chennai at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 28. 

Match Details

Match: GUJ vs MUM, 73rd Match, Qualifier 2, IND T20 League 2023

Date: Friday, May 26, 2023

Time: 07:30 PM

Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Pitch and Weather Report

The surface at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is excellent to bat on and we can expect a high-scoring match between the sides. The team batting first will be peeking on getting close to 200 runs on the scoreboard to put the opponent under pressure in the second innings of the match. The pitch does have some grass on it which will help the fast bowlers in the powerplays. 

The weather is predicted to remain clear with the highest and lowest temperatures between 28-41 degrees Celsius. 

GUJ vs MUM Squads

GUJ: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Shubman Gill, Pradeep Sangwan, Matthew Wade, Jayant Yadav, Dasun Shanaka, Srikar Bharat, Odean Smith, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Shivam Mavi, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Dayal

MUM: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Tilak Varma, Chris Jordan, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Ramandeep Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Kumar Kartikeya, Sandeep Warrier, Tristan Stubbs, Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Arjun Tendulkar, Duan Jansen, Arshad Khan, Dewald Brevis, Raghav Goyal

GUJ vs MUM Probable Playing XIs

GUJ: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Rashid Khan, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma

MUM: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Tilak Varma, Chris Jordan, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal

Match Prediction

Gujarat packs a superior batting as well as bowling attack while the five times champions only have a strong force with the bat. There is no shortage of talent in the defending champions' batting order but Mumbai have been exceptional in the past few matches. The toss will play a pivotal role as assessed by the results of the past few games played on this ground. This will be a close contest and it is not easy to choose between the two sides but keeping in mind the home advantage, and a better bowling attack, Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat side will have a slight notch in this round.

Top Fantasy Picks

Shubman Gill- The 23-year-old opener has been in brilliant form throughout the Indian T20 League 2023 and is one of the brightest prospects who can make Gujarat’s dream of lifting the trophy for the second straight time. Gill is just 8 runs short from becoming the highest scorer in this league season. He has registered 722 runs with 23 sixes and 71 fours at a strike rate of 149 and is the highest run scorer for Gujarat, this year. 

Mohammed Shami- The Indian speedster is now the highest wicket-taker in the competition with 26 wickets under his belt. He is one of those who make cricket a tougher game to play even for the best batter in the world. Shami has 26 wickets under his belt.

Suryakumar Yadav- He is the highest run-getter for Mumbai with 544 runs scored at a strike rate of 183. He has smashed 26 sixes and 58 fours during this league season. He is capable of doing things with the bat that other batters haven’t dreamt of.

Piyush Chawla- The Indian spinner is ageing like a fine wine and has been the highest wicket-taker for the five times champions and has taken 21 wickets while bowling at an economy rate of 7.76 and an average of 21. 

Risky Captaincy Choice

Akash Madhwal, the new star born in the Mumbai dugout, probably can keep up his pace with the rising talents in the field of cricket. He has shattered nine wickets in the last two matches he played for Mumbai. The 29-year-old was the ace of Rohit Shama’s deck of cards, who turned out to be the match-winner in the most challenging situation during the Eliminator.

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