Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will clash against inconsistent Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 21st match of the IPL 2023 at Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on April 15. Lucknow registered a thrilling one-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last game and currently occupies the second position in the points table with three wins from their opening four games. Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran recorded quick fifties to chase the 213-run target on the innings’ final delivery.
Punjab Kings suffered two back-to-back defeats after recording two wins in the opening games. They managed to score just 153/8 while batting first against Gujarat Titans in their last game, with Matthew Short smashing 36 off 24 and Shahrukh Khan adding quick 22 runs. Kagiso Rabada featured in the playing eleven for the first time as the bowlers were impressive with their spells. But Gujarat survived a late scare to clinch two big points with a ball to spare. Liam Livingstone is available for the selection and might come into the playing eleven in Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s place for this fixture.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI
Lucknow Super Giants
KL Rahul(C), MP Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, KH Pandya, A Badoni, Nicholas Pooran(wk), Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, A Mishra
BENCH : Krishnappa Gowtham, YS Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, DR Sams, PN Mankad, Q de Kock, Romario Shepherd, M Vohra, Karan Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Yudhvir Singh
Punjab Kings
Shikhar Dhawan(C), Shahrukh Khan, SM Curran, MW Short, LS Livingstone, P Simran Singh,JM Sharma(wk), RD Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, K Rabada
BENCH : B Rajapaksa, Sikandar Raza, Nathan Ellis, R Dhawan, A Taide, Harpreet Singh,
Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh, Rajangad Bawa, Baltej Singh, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Gurnoor Brar
PITCH REPORT
The pitch at Lucknow’s Ekana Cricket Stadium has a bowling-friendly surface in T20 cricket with an average first-innings score of 118. Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to score just 121 runs while batting first in the last game here, so fans can expect another low-score encounter on Saturday.
