IPL 2023 GT vs MI Highlights, Qualifier 2: Gujarat Titans to play Chennai Super Kings in final

Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians, Highlights: Shubman Gill’s 60-ball knock of 129 and a clinical effort from the bowlers helped Gujarat Titans win by 62 runs.

GT vs MI, IPL Qualifier 2 Preview: Gujarat Titans (GT) will take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. The winners will take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Sunday’s final at the same venue.

IPL 2023: Full coverage | Points table | Schedule | Results | Orange Cap | Purple Cap​

Even before the IPL started, GT were strong favourites to lift the trophy, and so far, they have met expectations. The Hardik Pandya-led side rounded off the league stage as league winners, with 20 points, and met CSK in Qualifier 1.

However, their batters, barring Shubman Gill (42) and Rashid Khan (30) let GT down and eventually lost by 15 runs.

MI, on the other hand, started the tournament on a rather slow note, but the resurgence of Suryakumar Yadav, and the rise of youngsters like Nehal Wadhera paved way to their qualification for the playoffs. In their last league match, MI saw off Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets, but had to wait for the outcome of RCB vs GT to confirm their playoff spot.

Pacer Akash Madhwal stole the show in MI’s Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Chennai, finishing with impressive figures of 5/5.

MI had opted to bat first against Krunal Pandya and Co, and needed knocks from Cameron Green (41) and Suryakumar Yadav (33) to post 182/8.

However, LSG faltered in their reply, with Akash Madhwal regularly disturbing the batters while run-outs in the middle too cost them the game. LSG were bundled out for just 101 in 16.3 overs.

One major concern for Mumbai Indians going into the Qualifier 2 contest is that of skipper Rohit Sharma’s form. Rohit has had a rather inconsistent run with the bat this season, scoring 324 runs from 15 matches, that includes two fifties, the second of which came against SRH in their last league match.

Against LSG, Rohit started on a confident note, hitting Krunal Pandya for a six and a four, but lost his wicket courtesy a failed attempt at a lofted shot. He was dismissed for 11.

Meanwhile, for GT, Mohammed Shami will be crucial in the powerplay phase. Out of his 26 wickets in IPL 2023 so far, 15 of those have come in the powerplay. That shows how effective Shami can be in the first six overs for a GT side that have been at the best this season.

As far as their batting is concerned, Shubman Gill will be GT’s main player. The youngster has had a fantastic IPL so far, amassing 722 runs from 15 matches, with two centuries and four fifties.

GT vs MI squads

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

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Jofra Archer, Arshad Khan, Jason Behrendorff, Dewald Brevis, Piyush Chawla, Tim David, Raghav Goyal, Cam Green, Ishan Kishan, Duan Jansen, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Shams Mulani, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Tristan Stubbs, Arjun Tendulkar, N Tilak Varma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Suryakumar Yadav

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