Watch cricket video highlights between Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants. Indian Premier League 2024 fifty fourth match, played at Lucknow.
The surface against MI was slower than the one used for LSG’s match against RR, which was batting-friendly. The host team won’t want to give away any edge in that area because KKR has a potent spin assault. Since the 2023 Indian Premier League, the venue’s average first-inning score has been 160.
Despite a fifty against RCB, skipper Shreyas Iyer has not contributed much with the bat to KKR’s successful season thus far. Having scored 6, 33*, and 28 in the previous three games, he enters the contest with 257 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 137.43. Due to the efforts of the rest of the lineup, KKR has not suffered too much despite his occasional strong starts but inability to convert. He scored a run-a-ball 38 in the rematch match, with Salt hitting at a strike rate of around 190 at the opposite end.
For LSG, Marcus Stoinis has come back to form at the ideal time. Following a remarkable single performance against Chennai Super Kings, he was dismissed for a duck against RR (a match that LSG lost) and returned to win the match again by hitting 62 off a sluggish wicket against MI. At No. 3, LSG has also at last discovered the ideal spot for him, where he has produced those huge scores. Additionally, Nicholas Pooran is under less pressure to compensate for the absence of runs from the top order because to his strong form. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav, among others, have been bowled by him in the previous two games, demonstrating the usefulness of his medium speed.
Harshit Rana will return after serving his one-match suspension. Following a batting meltdown in the first innings of their encounter against MI, Angkrish Raghuvanshi was replaced as the Impact Player by Manish Pandey. Along with Venkatesh Iyer, he played a vital knock of 42 to rebuild the innings. If KKR needs an additional batting hand, they will probably take the same course of action. In de Kock’s absence, LSG started middle-order hitter Ashton Turner in the previous game, with Arshin Kulkarni coming on as the Impact Player to open with KL Rahul. According to Justin Langer, the coach of LSG, de Kock “should be ready to play the next game or so”. LSG is probably going to bring back Amit Mishra or Yash Thakur now that Mayank is out.
Mitchell Starc (3 for 28) and Phil Salt (47 balls, 89) combined to help the hosts crush LSG by eight wickets. After being sent in, LSG could only muster 161 for 7, which was eventually chased down by the hosts in 15.4 overs.
After more than fifty games, not a single club has made it to the postseason. Currently ranked second and third in the standings, respectively, Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants still have a chance to lose out on qualifying. Both sides would like to avoid being mired in the middle of the table, and two points now may help them do that. The big-hitters for KKR, who enter this game fresh off two victories, will be playing in unfamiliar terrain. They had never gone to Lucknow to see an IPL match. Additionally, the venue’s pitches haven’t been all that predictable. But considering how effectively their spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine has played thus far, KKR will be happy with the fact that spin has been a major factor in most of these games.
The two in the middle restrained the LSG hitters in their earlier encounter at Eden Gardens this season. LSG hasn’t yet succeeded in winning over the pitches at Ekana. They lost by seven wickets after scoring 196 on what appeared to be a fine batting surface against Rajasthan Royals, then they managed to chase down 145 on a slow pitch with four balls remaining in the match against MI. Hence, it will once again depend on whether they offer red, black, or mixed soils as the pitch on Sunday. LSG has struggled with injuries all season long. Their opener Quinton de Kock missed the most recent game due to a hand injury, while their X-factor bowler Mayank Yadav is currently almost certainly out of the competition. The hosts will be aiming to improve both their starting lineup and their performance in order to make the playoffs.
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