OVERVIEW:
Friends become enemies for the first time since their separation. Lucknow sit 4th in the table while Punjab are in the 7th position, but they are separated by just two points.
PUNJAB KINGS: After being destroyed by the Capitals, they came back pretty well against the Super Kings and they followed a different approach with the bat, which is preserving wickets and going berserk in the end. It actually worked perfectly where Dhawan anchored and a cameo from Livingstone boosted their total which proved to be too much for CSK. Most of the credits should be given to Arshdeep for his final 2 overs where he conceded only 14. These two overs actually changed the game especially after the 23 run over from Sandeep Sharma. Rishi Dhawan on his return after 5 years held his nerve in what could've been a tricky final over. Going into this game, Mayank will look to boss his friend and move to the 5th spot replacing RCB.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS: By winning 5 out of their 8 games, LSG have been consistently revolving around the 3rd and 4th spot. Their main strength has been the number of match-winning all-rounders in the XI. The likes of Stoinis, Holder, Hooda and Krunal Pandya ensure that they can change the game given any situation. And their captain KL Rahul as always looking in sublime touch as he's already registered two hundreds. The bowling department looks a bit blunt in the absence of Avesh Khan and misfiring Chameera. De Kock who has not been his best of form might feel the heat once Rahul starts failing which is unlikely to happen but their biggest concern which is yet to haunt them is Manish Pandey's extended poor run. He's not only getting out after scoring 20s and 30s, but also eating up a lot of deliveries as well which puts even more pressure on KL Rahul. By winning this game with a big margin, they might trip down the Rajasthan Royals and take the 2nd spot in the points table.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI:
KINGS: S Dhawan, M Agarwal (C), B Rajapaksa, L Livingstone, J Bairstow, J Sharma (WK), R Dhawan, K Rabada, R Chahar, A Singh, S Sharma / V Arora.
Sandeep Sharma was taken to the cleaners in the last game, so he might miss out to Vaibav Arora.
SUPER GIANTS: KL Rahul (C), Q De Kock (WK), M Pandey, M Stoinis, D Hooda, A Badoni, K Pandya, J Holder, D Chameera, R Bishnoi, M Khan / A Khan.
No updates regarding the injury of Avesh Khan. If he is available, then Mohsin Khan will have to miss out.
PITCH REPORT: Teams batting first have won 4 out of the 7 games so far. In the last 5 its 3 - 2 in favour the chasing team. Punjab have played just one game here and emerged victorious by 12 runs against Mumbai and for Lucknow though this will be their first game here. Hardik Pandya for GT became the first and only captain to win the toss and bat first, but that was a D/N game is it unlikely to repeat again as this one is a night game. The average score batting first here is 172. Team winning the toss will once again look to field first.
FACTS / MILESTONES:
Arshdeep has the best economy for a bowler who has bowled at least 5 overs in the death (16-20) which is 5.66.
Punjab Kings have lost the most number of tosses by a team which is 7 (from 8 games).
Rahul Chahar is winning the battle of Rahuls as he has conceded only 36 runs from 35 balls to KL Rahul by dismissing him once, where Stoinis has amassed the same amount of runs from just 12 balls.
If Punjab wins this game, this will be the first time that they've won two consecutive games in a single season since Oct 2020.
DREAM 11 FANTASY TEAM:
