It is the battle of the Supers, as Lucknow Super Giants take on the Chennai Super Kings on 3rd May, 3:30 pm at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow. The must was previously scheduled to be held on 4th of May, however it was preponed due to the elections being held in the city.
Chennai Super Kings:
Chennai have been one of the better teams this season sitting at 4th position. However, they have lost their last 2 matches and would be hoping to make a comeback. The lack of experience in their fast bowling department has started to cause problems for Dhoni and Co. Akash and Deshpande have picked up crucial wickets but have conceded bucket-full of runs, and Dhoni might need to find an alternative for the death overs. Their biggest strength has been their top order, with them contributing to nearly 65% of the team runs, most for any team. The Ekana pitch has been an absolute batting nightmare and thus the openers along with Ajinkya Rahane will be crucial to the team’s success.
RECENT FORM: L L W W W
Playing XI:
Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C & WK), Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Akash Singh
Impact player: Ambati Rayudu for Akash Singh
Lucknow Super Giants:
After their last match tussle with Kohli and company, Gambhir and his men would be itching to get back into winning ways, and they won't get a better opponent than Dhoni's army.
Lucknow's team is currently riddled with injuries, with Unadkat being ruled out for the rest of tournament, and captain KL damaging his hamstring last match. Krunal is the most likely candidate to fill in Rahul's shoes this afternoon.
Quinton De Kock has been unfortunate to have not yet played a single match. He might get an opportunity today but for that Naveen would have to miss out.
RECENT FORM: L W L W L
Playing XI:
Kyle Mayers, Manan Vohra, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya (C),, Marcus Stoinis, Nicolas Pooran, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra, Naveen Ul Haq, Yash Thakur
Impact Player: Ayush Badoni for Yash Thakur
Interesting Trivia:
- Deshpande needs only 1 more wicket to regain the purple cap.
- Conway requires 53 runs to hold the orange cap.
- Dhoni requires 13 more sixes to reach career figure of 250 IPL sixes.
Pitch report and its impact on the match:
The Ekana Pitch has played like a typical 5th day minefield so far, and we may expect this trend to continue. In such a situation, the spinners become even more handy and we might see both teams include more spinners in their team. LSG would miss Rahul in such conditions and might be tempted to replace Mayers with De Kock.
The unseasonal rains in North India have already affected a few games in the season so far, most recently being the Monday clash in Lucknow. The rain is set to make an appearance once again in the city on Wednesday and might affect the game too, even if not fully. Since the game in the afternoon, the probability of precipitation at that time is 25 per cent, as per Accuweather.
Venue: Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Sports City Stadium, Lucknow
Time & Date: 3rd May 2023 & 3:30 PM IST
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network & Jio Cinema
Dream XI Team:
