The Gujarat Titans will look to kick off their title defence in style when they face the Chennai Super Kings on Friday.
After winning the title in 2022 during their maiden season in the competition, Hardik Pandya and co will be keen to further add to their success this upcoming campaign.
With the pitch looking likely to favour the batsmen here rather than the bowlers, two big scores could be seen in Ahmedabad.
Below, we take a look at where best to find value for Friday's massive clash.
GT vs CSK odds
Unsurprisingly given their title win last season, the Gujarat Titans have been made favourites for this IPL season opener by Dafabet.
The bookmakers clearly expect the hosts to carry on their fine form from last season which saw them win the title during their maiden season in the competition.
| GT win |
CSK win |
|
|---|---|---|
| Dafabet (India) |
1.80 | 2.06 |
GT vs CSK match facts
- Date: Friday, March 31
- Kickoff Time: 19:30 (ICT)
- Location: The Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad, India)
- Last meeting: May 15, 2022 - Gujarat Titans won by 7 wickets
GT vs CSK team news
The Gujarat Titans look in good shape for this match selection wise with a near full-strength side to choose from. Josh Little did pull up with injury when representing the Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 league, but he has joined his IPL team-mates since, though David Miller will not be available here.
On the other hand, CSK have already been dealt two injury blows for the upcoming season. That's because New Zealand bowler Kyle Jamieson has been ruled out of the tournament, while Mukesh Choudhary is out with a back injury and it is not known if he will feature at all in IPL 2023.
GT vs CSK prediction
- Score prediction: Gujarat Titans to win
As mentioned before, the bookmakers are favouring the Gujarat Titans in this clash and we're agreeing with them in this instance.
Last season's title-winners look primed to at least make the play-offs this time around with all but Lockie Ferguson staying with the side who played in last season's final.
On top of that, the Chennai Super Kings severely underwhelmed last season, winning just four of 14 IPL outings as they finished joint-bottom of the standings. Their 2022 season culminated in four losses from five and their targets this season are far more modest than those of GT, so we expect them to suffer another defeat here.
GT vs CSK: best bet
- Pick: Highest scoring over - more than 19.5 runs
- Odds: 1.95 (Dafabet)
With the pitch in Ahmedabad looking likely to favour the batters for this IPL opener, we could witness some heavy scoring especially if the team chasing is put under pressure.
As a result, we're backing the above bet to come in and for an over in the match to witness 19.5+ runs scored.
With a number of big-hitting batsmen on show here and likely to play, there are no shortage of players who could easily bring in this bet.
GT vs CSK: flier bet
- Pick: Any player to score 100+ runs
- Odds: 9.20 (Dafabet)
At odds of 9.20, this is a real long shot but it's all fun and games ahead of this IPL season opener.
Granted, only eight centuries were scored throughout the whole of last season, but this is the sort of match where it wouldn't surprise if someone on the pitch hit 100+ runs.
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