IPL 2022 SRH vs GT Preview - Can Gujarat Titans make it 4 from 4?

Key match stats SRH vs GT

Pitch Stats – DY Patil Stadium

Average first innings score: 152
Average first innings winning score: 168
Average powerplay score: 43
All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 43% / 57%

Team form SRH vs GT

SRH – LLW
GT – WWW
Recent meetings: n/a

SRH vs GT Preview

What a start to their inaugural IPL season by Gujarat Titans who have gone from strength to strength in winning their first 3 matches of 2022.

The team itself looks well balanced in regards batting and bowling options and there seems a togetherness in the squad which is remarkable considering that the franchise has only recently been formed.

Of course, it helps that alongside that collective strength, a few individuals are pulling off remarkable feats. Shubman Gill with the bat plus Lockie Ferguson and Rashid Khan with the ball have all put in match winning performances while Rahul Tewatia, a player that many people raised an eyebrow at when he was bought for a considerable sum at auction, has won 2 games at the death, including hitting a six off the last ball against PBKS.

Today, they face an SRH side who themselves are just starting to build a little bit of momentum. Credit to Kane Williamson and his squad that they have come back fighting after that horror start to the season against the Rajasthan Royals and their first win of 2022 came at a canter against CSK last time out.

That win for SRH also came at the DY Patil Stadium and this will be the 3rd game in a row that the Sunrisers have played at this venue compared to Gujrat who are appearing here for the first time.

Of all the wickets at the 4 stadiums used so far, you'd probably say this is the most challenging for stroke play particularly for new batsmen. The pitch has been a little on the slower side and on occasion 2 paced. It's by no means a bad surface but teams are finding they can't just come in and blast from the off here.

In fact, that slower nature to the pitch has proved useful for an SRH squad that is generally reliant on finger spin and steady seam bowling to get the job done. Washington Sundar for example has looked very effective over the last 2 games here and even Aiden Markram got in on the act last time out.

By contrast, Gujrat have been playing their matches on quicker surfaces where a genuine pace attack of Shami, Ferguson and Aaron has blown the opposition away. Given their recent form, it may be that GT stick with a similar balance to their bowling attack and of course if it is a slower surface then Tewatia may get more overs. Alternatively they could consider dropping a seamer and bringing in the likes of Jayant Yadav to strengthen their slow bowling options.

SRH vs GT head to head

GT bowling vs SRH batting

Mohammed Shami will fancy his chances against this Sunrisers batting unit if previous form is anything to go by. He's dismissed Kane Williamson 4 times in T20 cricket and will be hoping to get rid of the SRH skipper early on again in this match. However, his combined record against all current SRH batsmen is even better!

Mohammed Shami combined T20 record vs current SRH squad

In general, it's fair to say that this SRH top order is going to get challenged far more in this fixture than they did against a toothless looking CSK bowling attack. Even if they can survive that early pressure they then need to pick a way through the 4 overs of former teammate Rashid Khan.

I felt over his final couple of seasons with the Sunrisers that most opposition teams were both happy and able to see off Rashid's 4 overs without too much damage being done confident in the knowledge that there were other bowlers to target where they could make up the scoring later on. With the strength of this GT pace attack that doesn't seem to be the case in IPL 2022 and the more risks teams are willing/have to take vs Rashid Khan, the more wickets he'll pick up.

Rashid vs Pooran T20 head to head

Most of the youngsters in this SRH team (Abdul Samad, Abishek Sharma, Priyam Garg, etc) will have faced Rashid plenty of times in the nets but this will be their first taste of him in a match situation. In that regards, Nicolas Pooran has struggled against the Afghan wrist-spinner in previous meetings.

SRH bowling vs GT batting

I mentioned in my last Gujarat match preview that this could be the year that Shubman Gill makes a real impact on the IPL and so far he's not disappointing. His current form plus his combined T20 record against this SRH bowling line-up make him one to watch again in this match.

Shubman Gill combined T20 record against current SRH squad

We noted above the impact that Washington Sundar has had in his last couple of games at the DY Patil Stadium and it seems likely that he'll bowl in the powerplay again in this fixture. His match-up against Matthew Wade could be key and despite right-arm finger spinners usually having good stats against left-handed batsmen, this is a head to head that Wade has come out on top of in previous meetings. Knowing the Australian, he won't be keen to be subdued regardless of the conditions and match-ups so expect a fierce contest.

Washington Sundar T20 head to head vs Wade

At the back end of the innings we then wait to see the battle between Tewatia and Natarajan. While the former has struck some magnificent blows late on to win games for GT, it would also be fair to say that some of the bowling against him has been sub-standard. Ravi Bisnoi in the first game and then Odean Smith in the latest match both fell apart under pressure but in this match, Tewatia might not get it all his own way with Natarajan being one of the most effective death bowlers in the early part of the tournament.

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images from the below sources and used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free

https://www.iplt20.com/
https://pixabay.com/images/search/cricket%20stadium/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en