Dindigul Dragons vs Salem Spartans, TNPL T20 2023, Today Match Prediction 03 July 2023

dgd vs slst Match Prediction & Analysis

Dindigul Dragons will face Salem Spartans in Tirunelveli as they look to maintain their position in the top 2. Baba Indrajith and co. have won 5 of their 6 matches so far and have looked in great touch across all venues this season.

Salem Spartans won their last game at this venue while defending a below par total against Tiruppur Tamizhans. This win came after 3 consecutive losses for the Spartans as they now find themselves at number 7 in the points table.

While on paper, Spartans aren’t eliminated from the race yet, a win here still wouldn’t guarantee them a spot in the top 4. Even though they managed a win in their last game, the batting performances haven’t improved much.

While Kaushik Gandhi and Maan Bafna have failed in the middle-order, Sunny Sandhu has looked promising and also scored a fifty in the last game. For Dragons, their batting has been in great touch having chased down 160 and 174 in the last two outings. However, prior to the last win, their bowlers weren’t in good form. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Dindigul Dragons Preview

A third consecutive fifty from opening batsman Shivam Singh led Dindigul Dragons to their 5th win of the season as they chased down 160 runs in their last match in Tirunelveli.

This time his opening partner Vimal Khumar also ed the party with a fifty as the duo scored 117 runs for the opening partnership.  In the previous win, it was Adithya Ganesh at number 4 who ed Singh in an unbeaten partnership of 105 runs for the 3rd wicket as Dindigul Dragons chased down 174 runs.

Baba Indrajith will be mighty happy with this consistency from his batters. These two performances came soon after the batting collapse against Lyca Kovai Kings.

R Ashwin was out of the side after that loss, and Baba Indrajith was handed the captaincy of the team. Varun Chakravarthy, Saravanan, and R Aushik are the key bowlers in this side but not all of them have been consistent.

In the last game, it was Suboth Bhati and Mathivanan who picked 2 wickets each while Chakravarthy was economical with figures of 1 for 15. Dragons need their bowlers to be more consistent and deliver as a unit. This will be a good opportunity for the middle-order batters to find their rhythm and get some runs before the playoffs.

Dindigul Dragons Predicted Playing XI:

Vimal Khumar, Boopathi Kumar, Adithya Ganesh, Baba Indrajith (c & wk), C Sarath Kumar, Suboth Bhati, P Saravana Kumar, M Mathivannan, Varun Chakaravarthy, Aushik Srinivas, G Kishoor, Shivam Singh

Dindigul Dragons Actual Playing XI:

G Kishoor, Varun Chakravarthy, Boopathi Vaishna Kumar, Baba Indrajith, M Mathivannan, Saravana Kumar P, R Vimal Khumar, C Sarath Kumar, Adithya Ganesh, Suboth Bhati, Aushik Srinivas

Salem Spartans Preview

Salem Spartans have won just 2 of their 6 matches so far and the maximum they can finish with is 6 points if they beat Dindigul here. Considering their current form, it seems unlikely that they would gain the upperhand in this contest against an in-form team like Dindigul Dragons.

In their last 3 matches, there has been just one score of fifty which came from Sunny Sandhu in the last match. The rest of the batting lineup has struggled to make any significant impact. 

In their loss against Kovai Kings, Sandhu scored 29 off 19 at number 6 and was the top run-scorer. They were bowled out for 120 chasing a 200-run target and in the game prior to that Spartans were bowled out for 98 runs batting first.

The opening duo has changed quite a lot in the recent matches and none of them has really worked for the Spartans. S Aravind, Amith Sathvik, Kaushik Gandhi, RS Mokit Hariharan, and Akash Sumra have all opened in the last 3 outings and none of them found success.

Maan Bafna, S Abhishek, and Adnan Khan are key players in the middle and lower middle order. While they haven’t been in form either, it is up to them to Sunny Sandhu and build partnerships to lead Salem Spartans to a decent total.

Salem Spartans Predicted Playing XI:

S Aravind, RS Mokit Hariharan, Kaushik Gandhi, R Kavin (wk), S Abishiek, Sunny Sandhu, Muhammed Adnan Khan, Akash Sumra, Abhishek Tanwar (c), Jaganath Sinivas, Sachin Rathi

Salem Spartans Actual Playing XI:

S Aravind, Sachin Rathi, S Abishiek, RS Mokit Hariharan, RS Jaganath Sinivas, Kaushik Gandhi, Abhishek Tanwar, Sunny Sandhu, Akash Sumra, R Kavin, Muhammed Adnan Khan

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

It looks like a balanced pitch with help on offer for both bowlers and batters. There are runs to be scored but the batters need to be patient and execute their strokes with great timing. The bowlers would start with the upper hand in this contest. The weather would be mostly cloudy with a high of 34 degrees Celsius.

Venue Details

India Cement Company Ground is the venue for this match. Both teams have played one match each at this venue so far and won. While the average 1st innings score is 152 runs, we reckon a 170+ score should be a match-winning total for team batting first.

Toss: To Bat

Dindigul Dragons are enjoying a good run of form with the bat while Salem Spartans have no one reliable to build partnerships or even finish the innings for them. As such, it is in best interest for Dragons to bowl first while Salem Spartans might back their bowlers to repeat their performance from last game and defend a total.