GT vs MI: There will be a fierce fight in Mumbai and Gujarat for the final ticket, know who has more power
IPL 2023 GT vs MI Qualifier 2: Buoyed by Akash Madhwal’s fine bowling to register a big win over Lucknow Supergiants in the Eliminator, the five-time champions Mumbai Indians will face the team on Friday (May 25). IPL 2023 In the second qualifier, defending champions Gujarat Titans will face a tough challenge. Mumbai’s performance this season has been fluctuating but now it seems that its team has returned to its best form at the right time.
Madhwal took five wickets for five runs in the eliminator match played at the MA Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, helping Mumbai beat Lucknow by 81 runs. Despite the absence of players like Jasprit Bumrah and Joffra Archer, this big victory of Mumbai is a warning bell for other teams.
Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David have faced the challenges well so far. Apart from him, young batsman Nehal Badhera is also making an impact while the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Ishaan Kishan are also playing their part. With this, the Rohit Sharma-led team is moving strongly towards its sixth title.
In front of these batsmen, Gujarat’s bowlers will have a tough test, which is being led by experienced fast bowler Mohammed Shami. Madhwal did a miraculous performance in bowling in the last match against Lucknow. He took five wickets for five runs in 3.5 overs. The team will expect similar good performance from him.
Among other Mumbai bowlers, experienced leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and fast bowler Jason Behrendorff have also bowled impressively. In the last few matches, fast bowler Chris Jordan took one wicket for seven runs in two overs against Lucknow, which is a good sign for Mumbai.
Gujarat Titans will enter this match after suffering a defeat from Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings team in the first qualifier. He will have to do his best to make it to the IPL final for the second time in a row. All the players of Gujarat have made significant contribution so far. Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar have performed brilliantly in batting. Gill could not perform as expected against Chennai but this opener, who scored a century in the last two matches of the league stage, will be the biggest challenge for Mumbai.
Gill has handled the batting responsibility of Gujarat Titans very well. This can be gauged from the fact that he has scored 722 runs in 15 matches so far. Vijay Shankar has scored the most runs after him for Gujarat but he is 421 runs behind Gill. In Shankar’s name, 301 runs are registered in 12 matches. Gill needs only eight runs to get the Orange Cap from RCB’s Faf Duplesey by scoring the most runs this season.
However, the poor performance of captain Hardik Pandya is a matter of concern for Gujarat. He has scored only 45 runs in the last five matches. David Miller has also failed to play big innings in the middle order. In the last three matches, he could not even reach double digits. Mumbai and Gujarat will face each other for the third time this season. So far both the teams have won one match each.