MATCH PREVIEW
Follow UsLucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings are set to collide twice in the space of five days in the Indian Premier League 2024. The first one is in Lucknow on April 19 (Friday) before they come face to face once again at Chepauk on April 23 (Tuesday).
KL Rahul and his men won three of their first four encounters but have lost the last two games, failing to defend totals, which has always been their stronger suit. Meanwhile, the Men in Yellow have more in-form players and role clarities and are coming into this match after consecutive wins against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.
LSG vs CSK Head-to-Head
Overall - Games 3 | LSG 1 | CSK 1 | NR 1
In Lucknow - Games 1 | NR 1
Venue details
The Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow has hosted three games so far this season and the batters here have scored runs at an average of 25.8 and a scoring rate of 8.6 while a wicket has fallen every 18 deliveries. Five out of six times in IPL 2024, we have seen a team cross the 160-run mark at this venue.
This is not your typical high-scoring venue and scores of even 160 to 170 could prove to be enough. The spinners here have a better economy rate (7.4 v 9.2) than seamers but the latter seem to take more wickets. The pacers have a strike rate of 15.8, compared to 25.1 for spinners.
Weather forecast
We are sure to have a full game and it’s going to be hot in Lucknow. The temperature is expected to be around 34-36 degrees Celsius. And the humidity will be in the range of 15-25%.
Things to watch out for
KL, QdK need to fire together
Rahul and Quinton de Kock have not been at their best as an opening pair. The two are averaging just 24.6 together, which is the second-lowest amongst all opening pairs this season. With only one fifty-plus partnership between them, the duo is yet to make it out of the powerplay. As a result, Lucknow have the worst average (25.7) and balls/wicket (18) in this year’s IPL.
Rahul started this season with 58 against Rajasthan Royals but since then hasn’t got a big score despite strong starts. In his last five innings, thrice he has managed to cross the 30-run mark but hasn’t been able to get into the 40s.
Meanwhile, de Kock slammed two fifties in the first three games but has scores of 6, 19 and 10 since. All of his six dismissals this season have come against pacers, with four of them coming against left-arm seamers. The likes of Mustafizur Rahman can trouble him with his cutters and in-swingers.
Lucknow have been below par with their first-innings totals in the last two games and would need their senior openers to step up if they want to be above par.
Use Bishnoi against Rachin
Rachin Ravindra started this season superbly where he went all guns blazing in the first two innings but his form has seen a dip in the last four matches. The left-hander from New Zealand smashed 83 runs in the first two innings at a strike rate of 238 but has managed only 50 runs at a strike rate of 117 in the last four outings.
Rachin has been terrible against legspinners in this tournament. Against leggies, he has got out three times in as many innings and averages just 5.7. Rachin has scored 17 runs against them at a strike rate of 243, so his battle against Ravi Bishnoi might turn out to be interesting.
Probable XIs
LSG - Quinton de Kock (IP), KL Rahul (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph/Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur (IP)
CSK - Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi (IP), MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman (IP), Matheesha Pathirana
Telecast and streaming details
The match will be live on Star Sports Network and live-streamed on Jio Cinema. The game will start at 7:30 PM, with the toss happening at 7 PM.
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