Ind T20 League 2023

Match 18: PUN vs GUJ

Preview 

It's the battle between the 6th-placed Punjab and 4th-placed Gujarat in the IND T20 League's 18th match on Thursday, 13th April at 07:30 PM IST. Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab and Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat will clash off at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. Both sides will be heading for this encounter after facing a defeat in the last match. Gujarat lost its last match against Kolkata in one of the most thrilling contests that the IND T20 League has ever produced. On the other side, Punjab lost its last match against Hyderabad while setting the target of 144 runs for Markram’s men.

PUN and GUJ both have 4 points each after winning 2 of their 3 games in the competition. But the respective losses in their last game have shown a mirror to both teams on an individual level.

The Dhawan-led side had an encounter with Markram's HYD in the 14th league match. Batting first, the Punjab batting lineup collapsed at regular intervals. Skipper of the side Shikhar Dhawan was the lone warrior whose unbeaten 99 took Punjab to 143/9 wickets. Punjab's seamers put some early pressure on the struggling Hyderabad by restricting them to 45 for losing 2 wickets in 9 overs.

But Middle-order batter Rahul Tripathi smashed an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls that included 10 fours and 3 sixes and he was well supported by skipper Aiden Markram who played fiery innings of 37 off 21 balls that included 6 fours in his innings, together both put up a partnership of 100 runs to hand the first loss to Punjab by 8 wickets. For Punjab Arshdeep Singh(20/1) and Rahul Chahar(28/1) took a wicket each.

In the absence of the regular skipper of the side for Gujarat's Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan took the charge of the franchise in the last match against Kolkata. Batting first, the defending champions posted a mammoth score of 204 runs. First, Sai Sudarshan smoked 53 off 38 balls that included 3 fours and 2 sixes in his fifty's knock and then the impact sub, Vijay Shankar played a blistering inning of 63 off 24 balls that included 4 fours and 5 huge maximums.

Gujarat's bowlers took out Kolkata's openers in the first four overs. But both left-handed batters Venkatesh Iyer (83) and Nitish Rana (45) kept Kolkata in the game. The leg spinner Rashid Khan took a hat-trick at a crucial moment in the 17 over of the match when KOL needed 50 off 24 balls. With 28 runs needed in the last 5 balls, KOL batter Rinku Singh smashed 5 sixes in a row to take the match away from Gujarat's hands. This was GUJ's first loss after winning the first two games.

PUN and GUJ won one game against each other in the last IND T20 League. In the first game, Gujarat chased down a target of 190 with 6 wickets in hand. Opener Shubman Gill scored 96 runs which were followed by left-handed batter Rahul Tewatia’s last two ball sixes. In the return game, Punjab took revenge by chasing 144 runs in just 16 overs. Punjab's gun bowler Kagiso Rabada was named man of the match for his 4 wickets.

Match Details

Match: PUN vs GUJ, 18th Match, Indian T20 League 2023

Date: Thursday, April 13, 2023

Time: 7:30 PM

Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali

Pitch and Weather Report

Overall, This pitch is considered one of India's better pitches, and IS Bindra has hosted many high-scoring and exciting matches over the years. In 9 T20Is, the team batting first has won the game on 5 occasions at this venue, while the team batting first has won 4 times. But IND T20 League has shown completely different stats. In the last 15 IND T20 League games at IS Bindra Stadium, the team batting second has successfully chased the target on 9 occasions. The team winning the toss should bowl first.

Mohali's ground holds a capacity of 30,000 spectators and has hosted 14 Tests, 25 ODIs & 9 T20Is so far. Men in Blue have scored 211 runs (highest total) against Lankan Lions on this pitch. The IS Bindra has been known to offer a fair balance between bat and ball, and the pitch is generally good for batting in the early stages of a match, but as the game progresses, it tends to assist the spin bowlers more.

The maximum temperature will remain at 37°C, with a low of 21°C with 23% humidity, and a wind speed of 24 Km/hr for the 18th Match, the IND T20 League on April 12 b/w PUN and GUJ. The weather in Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali during the match day will be clear and no rain is predicted in this evening encounter but it is going to be balmy.

PUN vs GUJ Squads

PUN: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Trevor Bayliss, Brad Haddin, Wasim Jaffer, Charl Langeveldt, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Raj Bawa, Nathan Ellis, Baltej Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Atharva Taide, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh 

GUJ: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Josh Little, Mohit Sharma

PUN vs GUJ Probable Playing XIs

PUN: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Nathan Ellis, Mohit Rathee, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

GUJ: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan (c), Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Darshan Nalkande

Match Prediction

PUN and GUJ both have won 2 games each, and Gujarat has shown dominance in the league so far. Punjab's wins have come pretty close. A 7-run win and a 5-run win won’t bother much to Gujarat much for this encounter. With skipper Pandya returning, defending champions has a solid chance to come over Punjab. Young talents like Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan have a good record against PUN and are in great touch. On the other hand, Punjab will welcome Rabada for this match and it is going to be a nail-biter. But we anticipate GUJ to win this match.

Top Fantasy Picks

(i) Proteas gun batter David Miller hits the ball Seriously hard with the cut shot in front of the off-side. Miller also plays a beautiful cover drive through deep mid-wicket and can nail the slog sweep over the square leg. Till now left-handed batter has played 107 matches and scored 2,488 runs with a batting average of 68.71 and a strike rate of 173.68 in his IND T20 League career so far. In the last match against Kolkata, he just scored 2 off 3 balls.

(ii) Shubman Gill is a terrifically gorgeous player, plays the square cut fanatically well through the off side and hits an unbreakably authoritative pull shot in front of the square leg. Gill can go over long off and long on, inside out with the spin against the spinners. The opener has played 77 matches and scored 2,016  runs with a batting average of 38.67 and a strike rate of 145.00 in his IND T20 League career so far. In the last match against Kolkata, he scored 39 off 31 balls.

iii) The skipper of the side Punjab and left-handed batter Shikhar Dhawan plays outstanding square drive through the off side and can play the lap shot mighty well overshot third man against the pace bowlers. Dhawan has played 209 matches and scored 6,469 runs with a strike rate of 149.01 in this league. The veteran batter is currently the orange cap holder with 225 runs in 3 matches for the 16th edition of the IND T20 League. He barely missed his well-deserved century by 1 run after scoring 99 off 66 balls against HYD.

iv). Lankan left-handed batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa plays a perfectly delightful leg glance through the fine leg and can also cut the ball with precision through the off side. The attacking left-handed batter has played 11 matches and scored 257 runs with a batting average of 51.00  and a strike rate of 154.55 in this league. He did not feature in the last match against HYD.

Risky Captaincy Choice

Gujarat's skipper Hardik Pandya can play a highly appropriate hard-cut shot off the back foot over the offside. Pandya also plays a splendid cover drive in front of the cover point. Pandya missed the last match against Kolkata but he is set to play this match against Punjab. The all-rounder with a certain panache has played 109 matches and scored 1,976 runs in the league so far. He can change the scenario of the match with his batting, bowling and captaincy.

Suggested Playing XI Real 11 Fantasy Cricket

Team 1

Team 2