The State of Play
Two teams who have each won and lost in their first two matches of the IPL 2024 meet when Titans host Sunrisers at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Hyderabad began their campaign with a four-run defeat to Kolkata but recovered to beat Mumbai by 31 runs for a resounding first victory, while their opponents on Sunday won by six runs at home to Mumbai in their opener before losing by 63 runs at Chennai Super Kings.
Hardik Pandya’s departure to Indians already looks to have had a detrimental effect on his former side, who are relying on the likes of Wriddhiman Saha and David Miller to step up and fill the void.
SRH broke the IPL record by posting 277/3 as they got off the mark, including an unbeaten 80 off 34 balls for Heinrich Klaasen which was spectacular even by the South African’s heavy-hitting standards.
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Wicketkeeper Klaasen is in clobbering form, having already hit 63 off 29 – including eight sixes – against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Abhishek Sharma also weighed in with 63 off 23 against Mumbai, and new signing Travis Head hammered 62 off 24 in the highest-scoring T20 match in history.
Rashid Khan finished on 49/2 against CSK, and the spin-bowler could now face his toughest test of the early season when he tries to halt SRH’s formidable batting line-up.
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Expected line-ups
Gujarat Titans: Saha (wk), Gill (c), Sudharsan, Omarzai, Shankar, Miller, Tewatia, Khan, Kishore, Johnson, UT Yadav
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Head, Agarwal, Sharma, Markram, Klaasen (wk), Samad, Ahmed, Cummins (c), Unadkat, Markande, Kumar
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Sunday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.50am GMT.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Prediction
The irresistible nature of Sunrisers’s batting in that win shouldn’t obscure the obvious concern for the visitors of the 246 runs they conceded, contributing to a total of 454 over their first two matches.
GT’s status as slight favourites will be more than justified if Khan and his fellow bowlers can summon strong performances. Should they do so, it would be a surprise if their counterparts can eclipse them.
Expect Titans to take another win.
