If the Lucknow Supergiants team, which has had a fluctuating performance so far in the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has to return to winning ways, it will have to face the points table-topping Rajasthan Royals in the match to be held here on Wednesday. Have to perform well in every department of the game.
Lucknow’s team has won three matches so far while it had to face defeat in two matches. He doesn’t lack talent but lacks consistency in his performances. In the last match against Punjab Kings, the Lucknow team could not perform well in the middle overs, due to which they were able to score 10 to 15 runs less in the end.
Captain KL Rahul returned to form scoring 74 off 56 balls which is a positive sign for the team. His batsmen, however, will have to focus on scoring runs in the middle overs. Lucknow have good power hitters in the form of Kyle Myers, Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis but their batsmen are unable to maintain good partnerships.
Apart from this, Deepak Hooda’s inability to score runs is also a matter of concern for the team. Made the mistake of handing the ball late to the talented Ravi Bishnoi against Punjab in Lucknow. Bishnoi is a master at troubling the batsmen with his googly and skipper Rahul should use him in the middle overs rather than the death.
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p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>📍 Touchdown: Jaipur 🙏
Thank you for the war @rajasthanroyals #RRvLSG , #LucknowSuperGiants , #LSG , #gazabandaz pic.twitter.com/jcYzhGqeCY
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 18, 2023
The other two spinners in the team, Krishnappa Gautam and Krunal Pandya, are playing their roles well. Lucknow have good fast bowlers in the form of Mark Wood and Avesh Khan. Yudhveer Singh Charak also left his influence against Punjab. However, it will not be easy for Lucknow to overcome Rajasthan, who have won three consecutive matches and have secured the first position in the points table.
Rajasthan have a strong batting line-up with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson playing a very good role in the top order of the team. Butler has so far scored the highest 204 runs for the team while Jaiswal has 136 runs in his name.
In the last match against Gujarat Titans, both these openers could not walk and in such a situation, captain Samson and West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer played their role well and won the team.
Devdutt Padikkal also played an aggressive innings but Riyan Parag failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Rajasthan’s bowling attack is very strong which includes world-renowned spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa and Ravichandran Ashwin. They have a lethal fast bowler in Trent Boult while Sandeep Sharma is making good use of his experience.
Teams are as follows:
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c & wk), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Kunal Pandya, Amit Mishra, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Naveen-ul-Haq, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Karan Sharma, Yudhveer Charak, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Mark Wood , Swapnil Singh, Manan Vohra, Daniel Symes, Prerak Mankad, Krishnappa Gautam, Jaydev Unadkat, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (captain), Abdul Basith, Murugan Ashwin, Ravichandran Ashwin, KM Asif, Trent Boult, Jos Buttler, KC Cariappa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Donovan Ferreira, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Obed McCoy, Devdutt Padikkal , Riyan Parag, Kunal Singh Rathour, Joe Root, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldeep Sen, Akash Vashisht, Kuldeep Yadav, Adam Zampa. Match Time: 7:30 PM.
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