Over the last 24 hours, the IPL has been dominated by the post-match fracas that took place during the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. Hopefully, the limelight would be back on what happens on the field of play when Lucknow take on Chennai Super Kings at the same venue on May 3.
After sliding to an 18-run loss against RCB, the Lucknow set-up perhaps would be hoping for a bit more pace in the wicket, especially with the franchise having a slew of shot-makers in their ranks. Lucknow have a few other concerns, none bigger than the fitness of KL Rahul, their skipper. He sustained a hip-flexor injury and looks set to miss tomorrow’s game. Rahul’s rather modest strike-rate has come under scrutiny but on tracks with spongy bounce, LSG might miss out on his skill.
On the bowling side of things, Lucknow seem to have the required strength in depth, evidenced by incisive spells from Ravi Bishnoi and Naveen-ul-Haq against Bangalore. Meanwhile, Chennai need to bounce back after slipping to a narrow loss against Punjab Kings. In fact, Chennai seem to have enough weapons to trouble Lucknow on their home turf. The Sri Lankan pace-spin pair of Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana provide variety and wicket-taking ability. Even though the seamer Tushar Deshpande has been expensive, he is the current holder of the Purple Cap. Meanwhile, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane have led the batting charts for Chennai. At the fag end of his career, MS Dhoni too has been landing some powerful hits in the slog.
Time and Venue Details
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. 3.30 PM.
Head-to-head: The teams are tied 1-1, with all four innings so far having seen 200-plus totals.
Expected conditions and toss: It could turn out be yet another slow pitch, where the ball stops on the batter. And with the match being held in the afternoon, the team winning the toss might opt to bat.
Possible XIs and Impact Player
With Rahul all set to miss out on tomorrow’s game, Quinton de Kock could finally find a place in the Lucknow XI this season. And that would force them to rejig the side, with Naveen likely to be left out. Ayush Badoni, Daniel Sams and Prerak Mankad offer impact-player options. Meanwhile, Chennai might look at Akash Singh, Dwaine Pretorius and Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C, WK), Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande.
Lucknow Super Giants: Kyle Mayers, Quinton de Kock (WK), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya (C), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, K Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Amit Mishra.