Super Giants and Titans look to seal playoff spot in a top of the table clash

It is time for the Titans and the Giants to collide again as the return-leg fixture for the newbies is upon us and this time the MCA Stadium will be playing the perfect host to the battle of two runaway leaders. The Giants sit at the top of the points table courtesy of a superior net run-rate imparting the added sway over the Titans. The latter is in the second position of the pecking order with identical numbers in terms of points.

Even though the upshot of the game wouldn’t be doing much of a shift in the pecking order, it would be handy for both the sides as they enter the final phases of the league stage for the fifteenth edition of the tournament.

The Giants would be coming to this fixture on the back of an impressive win against the Kolkata Knight Riders as their bowlers razed through the Purple and the gold brigade with consummate ease. Their batters would put up a decent total on the cards that would leave the Knights tottering.

The Titans had a phenomenal start to their campaign by trumping the Giants and after a fabulous run, they find themselves at a screeching halt at the moment as they have tasted two consecutive defeats for the first time since their inception. They were within touching distance of a win against the Mumbai Indians but Daniel Sams pulled off an excellent final over to seal the deal for the five-time champions.

This will pit two powerhouses of the ongoing edition of the tournament against each other as both sides have been in almost similar shape in terms of cricketing action in the yard. The Titans will have a slight psychological disadvantage considering the two back-to-back losses that they have faced while the Giants will have to keep all their bases covered as there have been occasional bursts of slip-ups for the men in Aqua.

Venue Watch:

The MCA offers a pretty decent surface with something for everyone and the initial overs would see the fast bowlers making merry with some early bounce and carry while the latter half of the innings would see the spinners chip in with some late turn, especially towards the middle overs of the second innings. The last game that was played out at the MCA witnessed the Giants piling up 176 that was comprehensively defended. Ideally, you can expect a 175-plus total on the cards but then it would be a formidable chase, given the onset of dew in the second half.

Squads:

Gujarat Titans:

Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron.

Lucknow Super Giants:

KL Rahul (c & wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Evin Lewis, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Andrew Tye, Kyle Mayers, Avesh Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, Manan Vohra, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Karan Sharma.

Match Details:

Gujarat Titans vs Lucknow Super Giants

Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

Date: 10th May 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST