Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI) lock horns with each other in the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) Qualifier 2 fixture at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday, May 26. The reigning champions topped the points table again but suffered a disappointing 15-run defeat against four-time champions Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 at Chepauk. Leading wicket-taker Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma took two wickets each to restrict CSK to just 172/7 total but GT's innings collapsed on just 157 runs with Shubman Gill top-scoring with 42 runs.
On the other hand, five-time champions Mumbai Indians secured the last playoff spot with just eight wins from 14 games. But produced their best performance of the season to beat Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator clash. Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav helped Mumbai to post a challenging total of 182/8 while batting first in Chennai and then uncapped Indian pacer Akash Madhwal bowled a stunning spell of 5/5 to bowl out LSG on just 101 runs to earn a gigantic 81-run win.
Rohit Sharma-led MI also recorded a dominating 27-run win over GT when both teams last played each other in the group-stage fixture on May 12 this season. Suryakuamar Yadav recorded his maiden IPL hundred while Gujarat's Rashid Khan shone with four wickets and a sensational knock of 79 off 32. Mumbai enter this fixture with a huge win and a better head-to-head record against Gujarat but the latter have a home advantage of playing in Ahmedabad, so, fans can expect a thrilling encounter on Friday.
Match Details
Match: IPL 2023, Qualifier 2
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Date & Time: Friday, May 26, 7:30 PM IST
Broadcast and Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and JioCinema
GT vs MI Probable Playing XIs
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Dasun Shanaka, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal, Mohit Sharma (Impact Player)
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Kumar Kartikeya, Nehal Wadhera (Impact Player)
Pitch and Weather Report
The pitch at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium offers a batting-friendly surface in T20 cricket. The average first innings score here is 167 in 26 IPL matches with teams batting first winning on 12 occasions. In IPL 2023, the surface has been balanced for both batters and bowlers with a team chasing 200-plus total and defending 130-run total in different games.
There is no forecast for rain in Ahmedabad during game time. Temperature is likely to hover around 37 degree Celsius during game time and will decrease to 34 towards the end of game time. There is a 1% of chance of rain during the match time.
GT vs MI Predictions
Best Batter of the Match: Shubman Gill
The young Indian batter top-scored with 42 off 38 against Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier 1 match as he continues his red-hot form in the tournament. Gill smashed two back-to-back hundreds in the last two league stage games to surpass a 700-run mark for the first time in IPL history. He has scored 722 runs from 15 innings at an average of 55.53 and a strike rate of 149.13 with the help of two centuries and four fifties. Gill is only eight runs behind leading run-scorer Faf du Plessis and is likely to win the Orange Cap this season.
Best Bowler of the Match: Akash Madhwal
The uncapped Indian pacer bowled his best-ever spell in IPL history as he took five wickets while conceding just five runs against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator game. Madhwal now has taken 12 wickets in his last four innings and has picked overall 13 wickets from seven innings at an economy rate of 7.76 in IPL 2023. Madhwal also took three wickets against Gujarat Titans when both teams last played each other and will be looking for another impactful spell to guide Mumbai to the finals on Friday.
Who will win the Match: Gujarat Titans (GT)
