Mumbai, May 6: As two in-form teams, the five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and 2022 winners Gujarat Titans (GT) clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, it will be a fierce battle between a dominant bowling unit powered by two pace icons and a sturdy, consistent top order which has given plenty of headaches to their opponents.

MI at the third spot with seven wins and four losses with 14 points, and GT, at the fourth spot with seven wins, three losses and 14 points will be locking horns with each other at Wankhede Stadium, in a match which will solidify chances of a top two finish for the winning side. A heavy victory could see either of these sides topple Royal Challengers Bengaluru, currently dominating the table with eight wins, three losses, and 16 points.

MI's bowling attack, led by pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, has been firing on all cylinders and has peaked ever since MI's win over Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 13 which kickstarted their six match unbeaten run after winning just one in first five matches.

Since that win against DC, Boult and Bumrah are the top wicket-taking pacers in the IPL till now and only second and third to spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (12 wickets). Boult has taken 11 wickets at an average of 15.18 and an economy rate of 8.28, with best figures of 4/26. 'Jassi bhai' also continues to prove his class after a heavy injury, taking 11 wickets at an average of just 15.09 and a miserly economy rate of 6.91. His best figures are 4/22. After some dull games, both bowlers have found their peak form, which has made them so fearsome over the years.

Out of all bowlers, Boult is racing towards the top of the Purple Cap charts, sitting at joint third-highest spot with 16 wickets so far, such a massive improvement after just five wickets in his first five games. Three more wickets will see him surpass Gujarat Titans (GT) pacer Prasidh Krishna. Even Bumrah, after just two wickets in the first three games, managed nine wickets in his next four.

MI's seam attack tops the charts in terms of wickets, (57), average (22.40), and strike rate (15.1) this season. Ever since the start of their winning streak, MI's overall bowling average is 23.23 and economy rate is 8.13, the best among all teams. Skipper Hardik Pandya (13 wickets in 10 matches) ability to strike in middle overs and wickets from spinners Karn Sharma (six wickets) and Will Jacks (five wickets) give MI the all-round edge many teams lack in their bowling.

Coming to GT, their top-three of skipper Shubman Gill (6th highest run-getter with 465 runs in 10 innings at an average of 51.66, strike rate of 162.02 with five fifties), Sai Sudharsan (second--highest run-getter with 504 runs in 10 innings at an average of 50.40, strike rate of 154.12 and five fifties) and Jos Buttler (fifth-highest run-getter with 470 runs in 10 innings at an average of 78.33, strike rate of 169.06, with five half-centuries) has been extremely prolific. They have faced 75 per cent of the balls, and 75 per cent of the runs have come from them.

As per ESPNCricinfo, right from their first game, at least one of these have scored a fifty throughout these innings, and in five of those matches, at least two of these players crossed the 50-run mark.

Their batting average is 57.56 this season, the best among all teams, 18 runs more than the next best team. Their combined strike rate of 161.32, is also the third-best after Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) this season.

Squads:

Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Arshad Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra, Gurnoor Brar, Nishant Sindhu, Kulwant Khejroliya, Karim Janat, Jayant Yadav, Dasun Shanaka

Mumbai Indians Squad: Ryan Rickelton(w), Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Karn Sharma, Raj Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju, Robin Minz, Reece Topley, Mitchell Santner, Ashwani Kumar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Krishnan Shrijith, Raghu Sharma, Arjun Tendulkar, Bevon Jacobs.

(ANI)

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