KKR vs GT Highlights, IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans survive Russell scare to win by 8 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders

"We're gonna bat first. It's absolutely fine. The last game was a precautionary absence as we had five days break after that, so I wanted to get a week's break. Better to bat when it's hot and see how the surface is. Only one change - Vijay goes out and I come in," says Hardik.

Their openers have averaged just around 20 and Hardik's return to the eleven adds depth to Gujarat's batting unit! Hardik replaces Vijay Shankar in the eleven.

Hardik Pandya wins the toss! Gujarat Titans elect to bat first in the day game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

"We can see a lot of what we've seen all season, lots of grass and that should help the quicks a bit. The ball should come onto the bat nicely as it has done at this venue. Having a closer look at the track, it seems to be a bit dry and the cracks look like they could open up sooner than later," says Nick Knight about the surface.

Sunil Narine is just a wicket away from 150 IPL plucks. He has picked up seven wickets in as many games this season.

Shreyas has got 236 runs in seven games at 39.33 but he will need support from the other Knights in the batting mix, while Hardik has amassed 228 runs. An exciting battle between two skippers is on the cards! The toss is just 10 minutes away… stay tuned!

Kolkata Knight Riders will rely heavily on Sunil Narine, who boasts of the best economy rate of 5.03 after seven matches. His role will be crucial today as Kolkata look to end a three-game losing streak.

The move to open with Ajinkya Rahane backfired before Kolkata decided to go with Aaron Finch at the top. Also, Venkatesh Iyer is yet to click in the tournament. He's notched up a fifty but his other scores read 16, 10, 3, 18, 6 and 6.

Varun Chakravarthy bled 30 runs from two overs against Rajasthan and the tweaker will look to redeem himself against Gujarat Titans. He has managed to pick just four wickets in seven games so far.

Look at the discipline he's showing in his batting. He's batting well in the powerplay and making full use of the field restrictions, he's doing exceedingly well in the field," Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

"So basically, that thinking cap is on; and once that happens your game just goes up."

On the batting front, Kolkata have Aaron Finch, who scored a 28-ball 58 in the previous game against Rajasthan Royals. He resurrected their chase in a century stand with Shreyas Iyer. The KKR skipper hit 85 off 51 balls before Yuzvendra Chahal turned the momentum in Rajasthan’s favour.

It remains to be seen whether they can keep up their charge all the way to the play-offs but Gujarat have managed to assemble one of the most balanced sides. The onus would be on Kolkata's bowlers to halt Gujarat's dream run.

Rashid Khan is just one wicket shy of 100 IPL plucks. He will look to join the elite 100-wicket club while Lockie Ferguson and Mohammed Shami seek early breakthroughs in the powerplay.

South Africa's David Miller has led the way with stellar performances in the early half of the season. The middle-order batter has remained unbeaten on four occasions in six games. 

His unbeaten 94 against Chennai was one of the best knocks of the 10-team competition so far. He will look to replicate his batting performance.

Gujarat have amassed 10 points from six games, two more than Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad. A win today will take them to the top as they will surpass Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have got 10 points each.

Stand-in skipper Rashid said Pandya's injury was "not serious and there's nothing to be worried about. The Baroda all-rounder is all set to return to the playing eleven.

While the Titans haven't got many specialist batters for every position, Hardik Pandya has shone in all three departments. In his fresh IPL spell post injury struggles, Hardik has notched up 228 runs from five innings at an average of 76.00.

Shubman Gill is facing his former teammates and the young opener will look to steer Gujarat to a steady start. He will be up against a lethal bowling attack led by pacers Umesh Yadav and Pat Cummins.

Kolkata can also bring in Tim Southee to add more firepower to their bowling unit. They also have Sunil Narine in the ranks. 

Shreyas Iyer (c), Aaron Finch, Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Baba Indrajith, Nitish Rana, Pratham Singh, Rinku Singh, Ashok Sharma, Pat Cummins, Rasikh Dar, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Aman Khan, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Chamika Karunaratne, Mohammed Nabi, Ramesh Kumar, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Sam Billings, Sheldon Jackson.

Hardik Pandya (c), Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Gurkeerat Singh, B Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Matthew Wade, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Alzarri Joseph, Darshan Nalkande, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Pradeep Sangwan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Varun Aaron, Yash Dayal.

While the lower order and bowling look impressive, Gujarat Titans have to sort out the opening combination. Shubman Gill had a fine start to the tournament and scored 84 (vs Delhi) and 96 (vs Punjab) but has gone quiet since then. Wriddhiman Saha was given a chance at the top against Chennai but the seasoned batter looked rusty during his stay.

"It's a kind of dream captaining the team, but overall the win made it memorable," Rashid said after Gujarat notched up their fifth win in six matches.

Gujarat have found different match-winners to win them games. It was David Miller and Rashid Khan who rescued Gujarat from a precarious position in the previous game against Chennai Super Kings. Hold on to your seats… the IPL newbies might produce a cracker today as well.

Rashid was put in charge of the IPL debutants and the Afghanistan star smacked three sixes and a four in Chris Jordan's third over, which yielded 25 runs. He ended up scoring 40 off 21 balls.

Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya pulled out of their last match against Chennai Super Kings owing to a groin injury. But stand-in skipper Rashid Khan chipped in with a match-winning cameo with the bat, while David Miller hit an unbeaten 94 to seal a thrilling win for Gujarat. Hardik is expected to return for this game