Kashi Rudras vs Gorakhpur Lions, 13th Match (T20) — Uttar Pradesh T20 league

Who will win KR vs GL?

Cric First AI picks Kashi Rudras · confidence 60/100

• Gorakhpur won the toss, chose to bowl first at Ekana.
• Kashi sit 2nd with 3 wins in 4; Gorakhpur 5th with just 1.
• Ekana has favoured chasers lately — 3 of last 5 games won batting second.
• Fast & Bounce surface, 79% humidity — seamers fancy the new ball.

Multiple previews agree on Kashi's form edge and the venue's chase trend, but the surface read (fast/bouncy vs slow/low) is inconsistent across sources.

Result: GL won by 8 wickets. Prediction missed.

Toss and conditions

Gorakhpur Lions won the toss and chose to bowl first; Kashi Rudras bat first. Gorakhpur back themselves to chase again on a ground where three of the last five games went to the team batting second.

Toss removes Kashi's chase advantage — they must now set a target, not hunt one.

Fast, bouncy pitch and cloud cover suit Teerath Singh's new-ball but Karan Sharma's 162.5 strike rate can blunt that swing.

Key factors

Projected score and key matchup

First innings: 168-182 — Ground has averaged 173 batting first and 165 chasing this season.

Karan Sharma v Teerath Singh: Sharma's 162.5 strike rate against a bowler who took 3/40 in his last outing here.

Players to watch

Head-to-head and form

Kashi hold recent bragging rights — won by 15 runs and by 6 wickets in their last two meetings at this venue.

Kashi Rudras: Kashi Rudras: second on the table, four wins in five, batting first for the first time in a while.

Gorakhpur Lions: Gorakhpur Lions: fifth-placed, one win in four, backing themselves to chase again.

The story so far

Kashi Rudras arrive with real momentum — three wins from four, second on the table, and a chase-plus-defence swing that peaked with Sahab Yuvraj Singh's 91 off 56 in a seven-run win over Kanpur Superstars. Gorakhpur Lions, by contrast, sit fifth with a single win in four, undone by a three-wicket loss to Noida Kings despite Abhay Pratap Singh's 70 and Siddarth Yadav's 51 — proof their top order can fire even when the result doesn't follow. The two sides have already met once this season, Kashi winning comfortably, and hold the head-to-head edge from last year's meeting at this same ground too.

The toss nudges this Kashi's way on paper but not entirely their favour in practice: Ekana has leaned toward chasers recently, and Gorakhpur's bowl-first call plays into that trend rather than against it. A Fast & Bounce surface with broken cloud cover and 79% humidity should carry the new ball, putting early scrutiny on Kashi's top three — if Karan Sharma or Abhishek Goswami click early, 170-plus is well within range given the ground has averaged 173 first-up. Teerath Singh's recent 3/40 makes him the seam threat Kashi's openers must see off, while Nishant Thakur's dual utility — quick runs and wickets — could decide the shape of Gorakhpur's chase.

The chase: GL need 139

Gorakhpur Lions hold the edge chasing 139 on a true surface with dew likely to help batting late.

A modest 139 on a surface with pace and bounce should be gettable if Siddarth Yadav gets in early. Dew and 79% humidity at Ekana under broken clouds could ease batting further as the innings goes on.

Conditions: Fast, bouncy Ekana pitch, 83% cloud cover and rising evening dew favour the chase.

• 138 all but posted, Lions need 139 to win
• Fast, bouncy Ekana track under lights with heavy cloud cover
• Kartik Yadav and Vaibhav Chaudhary share the new ball for Rudras

Siddarth Yadav v Vaibhav Chaudhary: Whoever wins this powerplay duel largely decides how comfortably 139 gets chased down.

• Rudras need early wickets, not just dot balls
• Siddarth Yadav's dismissal would swing momentum instantly
• Dew arriving mid-innings could end the contest early