The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will play host on Sunday as Gujarat Titans will cross swords with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 12th match of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League.
With both teams having two points to their name and a new captain to lead, it would be interesting to see which franchise outshines the other at the iconic stadium.
What has happened so far?
Sunrisers Hyderabad shocked the cricket fraternity in their second game against Mumbai Indians when they went past Royal Challengers’ Benaluru’s record to smash 277 runs in 20 overs and hold the record for scoring the most runs in a single IPL inning. It was a terrific show at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad as Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, and Aiden Markram took a remand of the Mumbai bowlers.
The 31-run victory helped the Pat Cummins-led side climb to third place in the points table. The franchise has only two points to its name so far as they lost their opening game at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders by just four runs.
Coming to Gujarat Titans, they also have a win and loss to their name but are languishing in seventh place in the standings. The 2022 Champions had a rocking start in the league as they defeated Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians by six runs. However, the celebrations were short-lived as the team lost its very next game to Chennai Super Kings by 63 runs.
Head to Head Record
Gujarat Titans have played a total of three games against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League history. The Titans dominated the Sunrisers in two matches while one game saw the Pat Cummins-led side scoring a win.
Key Players
Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans): Shubman Gill is yet to deliver a match-winning knock in the Indian Premier League 2024. Gujarat Titans’ first match against Mumbai Indians saw the opening batter adding 31 runs to the scoreboard off 22 balls to help his team post 168 runs in the board. However, his performance took a dip in the second game against Chennai Super Kings as he was dismissed after scoring only eight runs.
Despite the poor show, Shubman will enter the Sunday game as one of the key players for Gujarat Titans. He was the top-scorer for the franchise in the last season and is expected to continue the same momentum this year as well.
Heinrich Klaasen has been the best performer for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024
Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrisers Hyderabad): Heinrich Klaasen is proving to be the best player for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2024. He is currently at the top of the run-scoring charts with a whopping 143 runs to his name in just two games. His average of 143 and an even better strike rate of 226.98 have made him the top contender for winning the Orange Cap.
SRH’s first game against KKR saw Klaasen smacking 63 runs off just 29 balls. Meanwhile, it was against Mumbai Indians that the wicketkeeper-batter caused an absolute carnage by hitting 80 runs in just 34 balls.
Team News from Both Camps
With Hardik Pandya traded to Mumbai Indians, Shubman Gill has been trusted with the responsibility of leading the side and he has done a fair job in his maiden season so far. Speaking of the players, the team had to bring in BR Sharath ahead of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League as Robin Minz was ruled out of the tournament following a bike injury.
The wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade missed the first match but finally joined the squad after representing Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield final. However, he is yet to play his first match of IPL 2024 as the Titans benched him in the game against Mumbai.
Just like Gujarat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad are also playing under the leadership of a new captain this season, Pat Cummins. However, it is an advantage for the side as the Australian star comes with a lot of experience and has a stellar leadership record in international cricket.
The team will be missing the services of Wanindu Hasaranga in the game as the all-rounder has been ruled out of the tournament after picking up an unfortunate injury in the lead-up to the Test series against Bangladesh.
Predicted XIs
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill ©, Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Spencer Johnson
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins ©, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan
Prediction
Sunrisers Hyderabad put up a heroic show in their second match against the Mumbai Indians as they smacked 277 runs to score a win by 31 runs. The thrilling performance must have uplifted the team’s spirits and they are likely to continue the same momentum on Wednesday as well and score their second consecutive victory.