GT vs SRH Preview – Titans eye seventh win as Sunrisers fight for survival

The upcoming fixture in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League will see the Gujarat Titans (GT) clash with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 2. The last time these two sides faced each other this season was in Hyderabad, which saw the Titans clinch a seven-wicket win courtesy of a brilliant spell by Mohammed Siraj.

Meanwhile, the Shubman Gill-led side will finally return to their home ground after two consecutive games on the road. With 12 points under their belt, Gujarat are currently positioned in a relatively safer spot on the points table. With five more league games remaining, they will look to strengthen their situation and aim for a top-two finish. Notably, the 2022 champions have so far won three out of four games at their home and will look to carry on the same momentum.

SRH will be coming back from a relaxing Maldives trip. The Pat Cummins-led who took a detour in the ongoing season, are hoping to capitalise on the slightest of chances of them qualifying for the top-four. With three wins in nine games, they currently find themselves in the ninth position with a negative NRR of 1.103. In their previous game against Chennai Super Kings, Harshal Patel’s four-fer and Kamindu Mendis’ clinical finish with the bat ensured SRH recorded their first win against CSK in Chepauk.

Pitch Report

The 22-yard strip at the Narendra Modi Stadium has majorly favoured the batters. However, the deck also has something in it for the pacers to extract pace and bounce. So far, four games have been played at this ground this season, with the teams batting first winning on three occasions. However, the case in the previous edition was contrasting, as six out of eight times, chasing teams ended on the winning side.

Probable XII

Gujarat Titans

Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Impact Player: Ishant Sharma

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Aniket Verma, Kamindu Mendis, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Mohammed Shami

Impact Player: Travis Head