NAVI MUMBAI, April 10: Gujarat Titans, who have become the team to beat in its debut IPL season, would aim to build on a dream start against an inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Monday.
Three consecutive wins in the IPL have given Gujarat Titans the momentum and they showed against Punjab Kings that they can win from any situation.
Skipper Hardik Pandya will need to showcase his tactical acumen against Sunrisers, who earned their first win against CSK but still are placed in the bottom half of the points table.
Gujarat have found different match-winners in every game while Sunrisers, who got a win after a horrendous start to their campaign, would like to keep improving with every game.
At the DY Patil stadium, focus again will be on young Shubman Gill. He has been in prime form and posted his highest IPL score against Punjab Kings.
The elegant right-hander would however need support from Matthew Wade, who has the ability to play big shots and Sai Sudarshan, who also chipped in with a useful knock in the last game.
In the last outing against Punjab, Rahul Tewatia found his mojo with two sixes and emerged as the match-winner.
Titans are up against death overs specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the raw pace of Umran Malik, the yorkers of T Natarajan and classical off-breaks of Washington Sundar. Add to it the variations brought in by lanky South African pacer Marco Jansen, the batters could encounter a tough time.
Gujarat’s bowlers on the other hand have been right on the money. Hardik’s four overs can change the complexion of the game while another pacer who can wreak havoc is Lockie Ferguson.
Mohammad Shami too has been impressive with the new ball.
The other important cog in their wheel is Rashid Khan, who is capable of running riot and can pose challenges to his former team SRH.
For the Sunrisers, after failure in the first-two games, skipper Kane Williamson got a start and would be keen to score a big one against Gujarat.
SRH opener Abhishek Sharma reposed the faith shown in-to him and made a match-winning 75 on last Saturday when the team chased a tricky 155 in 17.4 overs. He would also like to continue from where he left.
Rahul Tripathi’s role will also be crucial and ditto for Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram. The three need to show consistency and show their mettle while taking responsibility in the middle-order. Sundar has the ability to play cameos.
Both the teams are unlikely to tinker with the winning combination and considering dew, the toss becomes crucial as it has proved to be the case in majority of the games. (PTI)
Match starts at 7:30 pm IST
