Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL 2023) has picked up his pace and all the teams have played at least two games. Till now, we have a fair idea of how the teams are playing and how their combinations are.
Today, we will preview the 13th game of IPL 2023, which will be the Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on April 09.
It will be a day-game affair between the two teams. Both the teams, GT and KKR are coming into this game with a win in their last game. In fact, GT has won both their games in IPL 2023. They beat CSK in the first game and then Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 2nd game.
On the other hand, KKR lost their first game against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a rain-affected game. But they made a strong comeback after that and beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Eden Gardens.
Gujarat Titans won their 2nd consecutive game
Hardik Pandya won the toss and invited DC to bat first. Prithvi Shaw again got out cheaply and Gujarat Titans pacers were on fire in the first 10 overs.
Alzarri Joseph and Mohammad Shami were on the money and DC were 67 for 4 at one stage.
Sarfaraz Khan held the one end while A Porel and Axar Patel played quick fire knocks of 20 and 36 respectively.
Rashid Khan made the DC batters’ life more difficult as they only managed to score 162 on the board.
Anrich Nortje has started off really well and got two early wickets of the openers. Khaleel Ahmed got Hardik Pandya but then Vijay Shankar and Sai Sudharshan made 53 runs partnership for the 4th wicket. David Miller came in and along with Sai Sudharsan, got the team over the line.
Kolkata Knight Riders spun out RCB and got two valuable points in IPL 2023
RCB has given up against the KKR spinners in a big run chase of 205. After winning the toss, they decided to bowl first. Their decision was looking on point when KKR were 89 for 5 at one stage.
But Shardul Thakur has some other plans. He and Rinku Singh made a match winning partnership of 103. Shardul was the main aggressor in the partnership while Rinku Singh was holding one end and playing the 2nd fiddle.
KKR made 204 in the first inning. RCB was off to a flying start and Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis went after the two swing bowlers, Tim Southee and Umesh Yadav.
But as soon as the spinners came in, they were clueless as Sunil Narine started the whole thing. And Varun Chakravarthy and an impact player Suyash Sharma join the party as well.
The three share 9 wickets between them. RCB bundled out for 123.
Now, both the teams, KKR and GT will lock horns at Ahmedabad in their 3rd game. GT is going well and all the things they are doing is going according to their plans. While KKR has to look into their top order and expect more from them in the next game.
Let’s see the predicted XI of both teams.
GT Predicted XI-
There won’t be any changes in the playing XI unless there is an injury.
GT predicted playing XI- Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Joshua Little, Yash Dayal
KKR Predicted XI-
KKR has an option of Jason Roy at the top. But they will stick to that batting order. The only change which is possible is Lockie Ferguson in place of Tim Southee, subject to the former’s fitness.
KKR predicted playing XI– Venkatesh Iyer, R Gurbaz (wk), Nitish Rana (c), Mandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy
Players to watch out for
Kolkata Knight Riders
Andre Russell
The West Indian all-rounder hasn’t made an impact in the first two games. He will be eager to go hard in the game against GT. Captain Nitish Rana also hasn’t used him as a bowler in the tournament so far. It will be interesting to see if he bowls or not in the next game.
Nitish Rana
Captain will look to lead from the front as he didn’t manage to score big in the first two games.
Gujarat Titans
Shubman Gill
The Indian opener will have an impact at the top of the order in the tournament. He started off really well in the first game but missed out on an opportunity in the 2nd one.
David Miller
One of the best finishers in white ball cricket in the world right now. Miller will be one of the key players going forward in the IPL 2023.
Let’s see how this game panned out between the two teams. Whether it will be GT or KKR who will come out well in this game?
