Cricket Indian Premier League Prediction

Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Match Preview

🏏 9 April 2023 - 14:00 GMT +0

The unbeaten Gujarat Titans will seek their third consecutive win in the early stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders at home in Ahmedabad. The Titans have just one H2H match in the history of their short rivalry with the Knight Riders, a game which the former won in a tight tussle by just eight runs. The Knight Riders themselves have started on a mixed note, with one win and one loss thus far in the season.

The Titans have had two relatively comfortable wins thus far, claiming a five-wicket victory to open the 2023 season and then a six-wicket win against the Delhi Capitals with nearly two overs to spare. Afghan allrounder and overseas star Rashid Khan has been crucial for the Titans thus far, claiming 3/31 and 2/26, the latter in a ‘Player of the Match’ performance. Veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami was also key against the Capitals with 3/41.

With bat in hand, Sai Sudharsan has demonstrated the value of the ‘Impact Player’ rule, making the most of his substitution into the opening game of the season with a cameo of 22 from only 17 balls, before following it up and going even better in the next match with an unbeaten 62 from 48 balls as he saw Gujarat over the line.

Whilst eventual winners Gujarat finished on top of the IPL table for season 2022, Kolkata were far more disappointing and finished in seventh place, failing to make the playoffs for the third time in their last four seasons. Afghan acquisition Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been useful so far, having struck 22 from 16 balls in KKR’s first game of 2023, before following it up with 57 from 44 against the mighty RCB.

Thus far in IPL16, they have once again shown a reversion to their usual pattern of relying on overseas allrounder Andre Russell. In game one, they collapsed to 75/4 before his cameo of 35 from only 19 balls pushed the loss margin to a more respectable seven runs, while in their second game, he was removed for a golden duck and the heavy lifting was instead left to Shardul Thakur (68* not out from 29 balls) down the order. Thakur's contribution was the highest IPL score at number seven by any Indian, but he'll be eager to instead impress with the ball.

⚡ Key battle: In the previous H2H match, KKR’s Andre Russell was the star, smashing 48 from only 25 balls and claiming a stunning 4/5. He has had a tight battle over the years against Gujarat talisman Rashid Khan, however. The Afghan spinner has H2H figures of 4/54 from 38 balls against Russell in all T20 matches across countless competitions.

📋 Stat attack: Gujarat have recorded the most powerplay runs in four of their last five matches.

• Gujarat have failed to strike the most sixes in four of their last five matches. Conversely, KKR have struck the most sixes in three of their last five matches.
• Shubman Gill has passed 20 in five of his last eight white-ball innings.
• Mandeep Singh has registered single-figure scores in each of his last three IPL innings.
• Wriddiman Saha has racked up 105 runs off the bowling of Umesh Yadav in T20s at an average of 52.50 and scoring rate of 9.3rpo.
• Mohammed Shami has career H2H figures of 1/96 at a hefty 14.4rpo against the batting of Andre Russell.

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings - Match Preview

🏏 9 April 2023 - 18:00 GMT +0

Two sides on opposite ends of the IPL table will go head-to-head in match 14, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad set to host the Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. While the overall record between these sides has been close in recent times the Sunrisers should be confident heading into this match having a 6-1 head-to-head record when hosting Punjab at this ground.

After finishing eighth on the table last season, the Sunrisers cleared out much of their overseas talent in favour of starting 2023 fresh. Kane Williamson leaving allowed Aiden Markram to come in as captain alongside players like the English pair of Harry Brook and Adil Rashid. Those big names haven’t paid off as of yet, losing both of their opening matches, in fact, Sunrisers were never really in the matches against Rajasthan and Lucknow. With eight wins seemingly the mark to make the playoffs, Sunrisers will likely now need to go on a hot run and win eight of their last 12 matches.

The Sunrisers' loss against Lucknow was another disappointing batting innings with no batter getting going with a high strike rate. Rahul Tripathi made a solid 34 but it came off a disastrous 41 balls, and similar things happened later in the innings for Washington Sundar with 16 from 28. The 15.85 crore combination of Harry Brook and Aiden Markram also failed with a combined three runs from five balls. The bowling effort was much better, with Fazalhaq Farooqi taking 1/13 from three overs as the Impact Player, while Adil Rashid also took two key wickets. But with only 121 on the board, the bowlers' job was simply impossible. Perhaps a change at the top of the order is required for the Sunrisers to get on the winning board such as bringing back one of their spare wicketkeepers in Glenn Phillips or Heinrich Klaasen.

Compared with the Sunrisers, Punjab have had a breeze of a start to the 2023 IPL, firstly dismantling the Kolkata Knight Riders before upsetting the inaugural champion Rajasthan Royals. Punjab has certainly added to their stock compared with the 2022 season which saw them go 7-7 from 14 matches. Sam Curran and Sikandar Raza were massive signings while Punjab managed to retain their quality bowling lineup that kept them in so many games last year. There is more good news for Punjab with Liam Livingstone reportedly able to play from as early as next week if the ECB provides clearance this weekend as expected.

Punjab really did announce themselves to the 2023 IPL win with a big run defence against Rajasthan in their latest match. Shikhar Dhawan smashed 86 from 56 as part of a 90-run opening partnership before Jitesh Sharma finished it off with 27 from 16 to post 197/4. Rajasthan got off to a quick start that was only brought back by Nathan Ellis with 4/30 from his four overs. Once again he continues to be one of the most underrated T20 bowlers on the circuit. 16 was needed from the final Sam Curran over but a run out as well as good bowling kept it to just ten to give Punjab the points. Perhaps the only improvement to the Punjab side at the moment would be to bring in new replacement foreigner Matt Short, who has averaged more than 32 at a strike rate of more than 145 in both of the last two BBL seasons.

⚡ Players to watch: This match will see two experienced Indian internationals go head to head in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan. ‘Bhuvi’ has loved playing against Punjab in the past, taking 23 wickets from 15 matches, while Shikhar Dhawan comes into the match in good form having started the season with scores of 86 and 40. In past encounters Bhuvi has bowled 54 balls to Dhawan in the IPL, going for only 50 runs while dismissing the opener on two occasions.

📋 Stat attack: The average first innings score at this venue is 159, but was much higher at 172 in 2019 (the last full season played at this venue).

• Abhishek Sharma scored the third most powerplay runs in the 2022 IPL with 230 runs at an average of 38.33.
• Punjab has hit the most sixes in five of their last seven matches.
• Since the Sunrisers five match head-to-head winning streak, the last ten games between these sides have seen five wins each.
• In three innings against Hyderabad, Sam Curran has struck 51 runs from 29 balls (SR:175.9) while being dismissed only once.
• Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar returned Punjab’s best bowling figures on five separate occasions each in 2022.
• Umran Malik needed just two deliveries to dismiss Bhanuka Rajapaksa in a T20I in Pune earlier this year.
• Washington Sundar has never dismissed Shikhar Dhawan in a T20, but his career figures of 0/36 come at an economy rate of just 4.9rpo.