IPL 2023 - Eliminator - LSG vs MI.
Overview.
We've come to the last week of IPL 2023. We have the four teams qualified for the playoffs. Lucknow Supergiants and Mumbai Indians would take on each other in the Eliminator of the season. A victory here would take the winning side a match closer to the finals. But a loss here would mean the end of the campaign for the losing side. So, it's a do-or-die game for both sides. In fact, every game has been a do-or-die situation for both the teams since the last game.
LSG finished third in the points table by winning their last game by just 1 run. Mumbai Indians won their last game by chasing 201 in just 18 overs. Both the teams are on the back of a win. The conditions in Chepauk would make the game a lot more interesting. It's a typical Chepauk track in this season, where both batters and bowlers would be in the game. These conditions are very similar to the ones LSG have seen in Lucknow. At Chepauk, Mumbai Indians have a great record. That promises to be an exciting game of Cricket for the fans.
Preview.
Lucknow Supergiants : After the injury of KL Rahul, there were doubts regarding his replacements. Moreover, Deepak Hooda has been in a very bad form too. Looks like LSG have finally found the replacements for the two in the form of Karan Sharma and Prerak Mankad. They can still play Kyle Mayers as the opener at the cost of an overseas pacer like Naveen Ul Haq, considering the importance of clean striking in powerplay overs. Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran have been the two batting forces of LSG this season. The two have contributed as bowler and wicket keeper too, respectively.
Krunal Pandya and Ayush Badoni have had decent to good performances here and there. They've to step up big time against a side like MI. Their bowling is good though. They surely have concerns over their bowling in powerplay, as they aren't quite getting the early wickets lately. But the spinners have been doing a fantastic job for them. Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham and Ravi Bishnoi have been really good. They need the likes of Naveen Ul Haq, Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan to step up and support their fellow pacer, Yash Thakur.
Mumbai Indians : At the start of the season, none would've predicted them to be here in the playoffs. But some exceptional performers have got them here. The opening pair of Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma is doing the job of powerplay striking. That has enabled the middle order to fire more. Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Nehal Wadhera and Tilak Verma have all been really good with the bat. As a finisher, Tim David would always be around for MI. Undoubtedly, batting has been the biggest reason for their turnaround in this season.
Their bowling, which looked toothless at the start of the season, is having decent contributors now. Jason Behrendorff has been providing them early wickets in the powerplay overs. Piyush Chawla has been sensational in the middle overs. Their find of the season, Akash Madhwal, has been really good at the death. Cameron Green can also be handy with the ball. Other bowlers like Chris Jordan, Kumar Kartikeya and Hrithik Shokeen have to perform their role well.
Probable Playing XIs.
Lucknow Supergiants :
Quinton De Kock (WK)
Karan Sharma
Prerak Mankad
Marcus Stoinis
Krunal Pandya (C)
Nicholas Pooran
Ayush Badoni
Krishnappa Gowtham
Mark Wood/Naveen Ul Haq
Ravi Bishnoi
Mohsin Khan
Mumbai Indians :
Rohit Sharma (C)
Ishan Kishan (WK)
Cameron Green
Suryakumar Yadav
Tilak Verma/Vishnu Vinod
Tim David
Nehal Wadhera
Piyush Chawla
Jason Behrendorff
Akash Madhwal
Kumar Kartikeya/Chris Jordan
Pitch/Weather Report.
The match will be played in M Chidambaram stadium, Chennai. Historically it has been one of the toughest pitches for the batters to score runs in the history of IPL. Bowlers enjoy bowling here due to the slow and spinning tracks. The stadium has fairly big boundaries too. Both spinners and pacers can be effective here. Batters have to cleverly score runs. Powerplay overs would be the key for the batters.
It will be the night game in the venue. The dew factor might have a say on the decision of the captains. Still, the pitch slows down considerably with the progression of the match. So it would rather be a good toss to lose. We might witness a good battle between the bat and the ball. The average score at the venue in IPL 2023 is 165.64. The team winning the toss should ideally bat first and post a big total on this wicket. Chasing isn't easy in Chepauk.
Venue : MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai.
Date and Time : 24th May 2023, Wednesday, 7:30 PM (IST).
Live Streaming : Star Sports Network and Jio Cinema.
Interesting Facts.
- Head to Head : Both the teams have faced each other thrice in IPL. Lucknow Supergiants have beaten Mumbai Indians in all the three occasions.
- Marcus Stoinis is just 62 runs away from completing 1500 runs in IPL.
- Ravi Bishnoi is 5 wickets away from completing 50 wickets in IPL.
- For the batters with a minimum of 100 runs in the season, Suryakumar Yadav has the second best batting SR (185.14). Similarly, Nicholas Pooran has a SR of 173.79, fifth highest for a batter.
- With 20 wickets in 14 games, Piyush Chawla is currently fourth in the race of purple cap.
- For the bowlers with a minimum of 15 overs in the season, Krunal Pandya has the third best economy (7.24). Krishnappa Gowtham has the fourth best economy (7.33) in the same list.
- Mark Wood has the best bowling average (11.82) and the best bowling SR (8.73) for a bowler in the ongoing season.
- Mumbai Indians have won 7 matches at Chepauk, the second most for a team in the venue after CSK.
- MI have won the second most number of games in IPL playoffs (12). Since 2013, they've lost only three games in IPL playoffs.
- LSG has never lost an IPL match against MI.
Dream 11 Team
