Top-heavy LSG runs into a confident Gujarat Titans

Mitchell Marsh has provided Lucknow Super Giants quickfire starts and will hope to continue in the same vein.
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants are over-reliant on their respective top-orders – one by design, the other by force. When the two teams meet here at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday, the result could be decided by which top order outscores the other.

The two teams follow contrasting approaches: Super Giants have built a side with well-known big hitters, and Titans have put together three accumulators, at the top of which at least one is required to bat to the end.

LSG has struck gold with Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, batting in the top three alongside Aiden Markram, who is slowly finding his groove.

Marsh has displayed his range of shots, muscling anything short or in his range, while the West Indian has been equally good on both sides of the pitch.

The Titans will rely on Mohammed Siraj’s inswingers to keep Marsh quiet in the PowerPlay and could later turn to Prasidh Krishna’s off-cutters and pace-off deliveries to counter Pooran.

Marsh and Pooran’s wickets could expose Lucknow’s fidgety middle order, including an out-of-colour Rishabh Pant.

Gujarat makes up a formidable top three, with young Sai Sudharsan taking responsibility alongside Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler. However, the similarity in their approach to batting renders the innings one-dimensional.

If the Titans suffer a top-order collapse, an unsettled middle order – featuring Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, and Rahul Tewatia – will be required to do the heavy lifting.