Fantasy: Wood to come good for Lucknow again?

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) welcome Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match 10 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. Having lost their previous games, both sides welcome their South African contingent including Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen and Quinton de Kock to the fold after their international responsibilities. As a result, it is a boost for both the sides and also a head-scratcher in terms of who they will replace in the XI. 

Ground details

At the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, the pacers have outdone the spinners in the recent past. In T20s since 2022, the fast bowlers have accounted for over 62% of the wickets, striking once every 25.6 runs, 18.6 deliveries apart and conceding 8.3 runs per over. While the spinners have been far more economical (6.1), the fall way behind in terms of runs per wicket (29.6) and Balls per wicket (29) ratio.

It’s a no-brainer that fast bowlers should dominate your fantasy XI. The average score batting first at this venue in T20s since 2022 has been just 134, while the average winning score batting first is 169. However, a score of as low as 132 has been defended at this venue. 

Suggested Team

While you could go for the above team, you can choose your team from Cricket.com's Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.

Captaincy suggestions

For small leagues: Aiden Markram (capt), Mark Wood (vice-capt)

For grand leagues: KL Rahul (capt), Kyle Mayers (vice-capt)

Stats that matter

Among the top three batters who have scored at least 500 runs in the IPL since 2021, Rahul Tripathi’s strike-rate of 149.6 is the best after Jos Buttler (152.3) and Prithvi Shaw (156.2). The attacking batter did not trouble the scorers in the first game against Rajasthan, but SRH will expect him to come good this time around. 

With the surface at Lucknow a good one for the pacers, we can expect Mark Wood to once again trouble the batters with his pace and get a few handy wickets. Wood has started off IPL 2023 with a bang picking up eight wickets in the first two games, often troubling them with extra pace and bounce. Wood has picked up at least three wickets in each of his last seven T20s and we can expect the England pacer to add to his tally in this game.

SRH skipper Aiden Markram is coming into the IPL at the back of an impressive SA20, where he finished as the third highest-run-getter with 366 runs at a strike-rate of 127.97, which includes a fifty and a hundred in 12 innings to lead Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the title. His part-time off-spin also fetched him 11 wickets at an economy rate of 6.19.  Moreover, he also struck a career-best 175 in the final ODIs against the Netherlands to further boost his confidence. 

Grand League Punts

KL Rahul has been among the most consistent performer in the IPL over the years. While he has not had the best of starts in IPL 2023, the LSG captain will be looking to make amends in this game to help his side win the second game of the competition. In IPL since 2020, Rahul has scored a staggering 2,145 runs at 43.78, along with a strike-rate of close to 150, with as many as 20 50-plus scores. 

While Kyle Mayers was set to slot into LSG’s XI till Quinton de Kock’s return, his scores of 72 and 53 in the two games so far has ensured that he is going to make it difficult for the team management to axe him. Moreover, he chips in with a couple of quiet overs upfront, which is an added bonus.

Top Criclytics projection

Probable XIs:

LSG: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Krishnappa Gowtham, Mark Wood, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Avesh Khan

SRH: Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips/Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan, Umran Malik