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The 30th match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) will take place between the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Ekana Stadium on Saturday, April 22.
This will be the first afternoon encounter to be held at Lucknow's home venue. The last couple of matches have been close affairs for LSG, with KL Rahul and Co. stepping up with a statement victory over league leaders Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur. Lucknow have performed well on slow wickets, with a home defeat against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) being the exception.
Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, are struggling to gather momentum across their campaign, courtesy of two glaring defeats against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a freakish nature. The Hardik Pandya-led side squandered winning positions across both matches and let go of some crucial points.
The two teams played their first-ever IPL encounter while facing each other at the Wankhede Stadium in 2022. Additionally, GT also completed a double over LSG in IPL 2022.
On that note, let's take a look at three exciting player battles for the upcoming encounter between the two tournament favorites.
#1 KL Rahul vs Mohammed Shami
The two Team India teammates are vital players for their respective sides, especially with their ability in the powerplay overs. KL Rahul, however, has been far from his best across the first six overs and has earned the wrath of fans and pundits alike over his approach so far.
The LSG skipper will be keen to spruce up his numbers against the new ball, but he will have to overcome the challenge posed by Mohammed Shami. The right-arm pacer has gone about his good work in the shortest format, which at times cruelly goes unnoticed.
Rahul has been dismissed twice by the GT pacer, including in their most recent outing. The statistics do not weigh heavily in the favor of the batter, in this case, as Shami has held Rahul to a strike rate of 76 across 17 deliveries in three innings.
#2 Nicholas Pooran vs Rashid Khan
The Lucknow surface has treated spinners really well so far and Rashid Khan will be expecting to join the party as well. The LSG middle order is largely being handled by Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.
The Caribbean left-handed batter has not been at his best at the franchise's home venue and his matchup against an in-form Rashid Khan will be detrimental to LSG's total, should it come to that.
The GT leg-spinner has 11 wickets to his name already and is in contention for the Purple Cap. He has revamped his game to shed the tag of being a defensive bowler and has also picked up a hat-trick in IPL 2023 as well.
Much like the majority of batters, Pooran has been tentative against Rashid Khan to a great extent. The pair have come across each other on three occasions, where the left-handed batter has scored 46 runs in 40 deliveries, without losing his wicket.
#3 Shubman Gill vs Avesh Khan
Shubman Gill has been rock solid at the top of the order for GT so far in the IPL. With his chemistry at the top with Wriddhiman Saha, the way they complement each other in the powerplay is arguably GT's batting backbone.
LSG have had to make several changes to their pace bowling unit over the course of the season. The likes of Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Tash Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Yudhvir Charak, and Naveen-ul-Haq have all been tried out already. Among the aforementioned names, spearhead Avesh comes across as the most consistent feature in the playing XI.
The match-up between the two former U-19 World Cup members is an interesting one considering that Avesh has dismissed Gill on two occasions in their five meetings so far. The right-arm pacer has also restricted Gill to 39 runs across 37 deliveries, with the right-handed batter's strike rate reading only 105.40.
Who will win the upcoming encounter between LSG and GT in IPL 2023? Let us know what you think.
