With T20 World Cup selection round the corner, KL Rahul will have one final chance to stake claim on the second wicketkeeper’s spot in the Indian team when Lucknow Super Giants host Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in Lucknow on April 30.
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

Hanging on to its playoff chances by a thread and fast running out of time, Mumbai Indians (MI) will hope its season turnaround can begin with the Indian Premier League match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on April 30.

The dwindling returns from its batters, starting at the top with Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, have been symptomatic of its ailing season.

The opening salvo had four 50-plus stands in the side’s first six games. In the three outings since, it has had none.

MI will hope Pandya’s 46 off 24 against the Capitals last week can help him turn a corner and bring some support for Tilak Varma.

With the ball, Nuwan Thushara has made an unceremonious start to his IPL career, conceding at 12 runs per over. The potential return of Gerald Coetzee will ease some of Jasprit Bumrah’s burden.

These issues hold a familiar ring for the Super Giants too, who will want to mend their inconsistent form before it weighs on their playoff contention. On the ascendency after back-to-back wins over Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow was handed a reality check by Rajasthan Royals last week.

To begin with, Mayank Yadav’s return to fitness brings handy reinforcement for a misfiring pace unit.

K.L. Rahul would want to put his spinners, Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya, to better use. The pair has bowled a combined 50.4 overs across nine games.

Calls for improvement will fall on the Lucknow batters as well, with the heavy lifting having been left for Rahul and Nicholas Pooran so far. The contributions from overseas starters Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis have been too far and few between.

Squads:

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai, Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood.

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Yadav and Arshin Kulkarni.

Match starts 7.30pm IST.

Lucknow Super Giants captain K.L. Rahul with his Chennai Super Kings counterpart Ruturaj Gaikwad.
| Photo Credit: AP

hennai Super Kings will look to regain some momentum in what has been a start-stop campaign when it takes on Lucknow Super Giants in the reverse fixture at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on April 23. The two sides met three days back in Lucknow, where LSG easily prevailed by eight wickets.

Super Kings enters a crucial phase of the tournament with three matches at home over the next eight days, which could determine the chance of making the playoffs. CSK has won all three games in its backyard this year and will want to continue that form to add to its four wins.

However, the defending champion has some big headaches to solve, mainly around its struggles in the PowerPlay with both bat and ball.

Runs have dried up for key top-order batters like Rachin Ravindra and Ajinkya Rahane, and the batting relies heavily on Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube. The skipper demoted himself to the number three in the last two matches, and it will be interesting to see if he goes back to open. Similarly, the pacers’ inability to give early breakthroughs will be an area the team needs to address.

Meanwhile, Super Giants had some positives from the previous match. The bowlers set the game up before skipper K.L. Rahul led from the front with a quick-fire half-century alongside Quinton de Kock.

The presence of spinners Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, and M. Siddharth gives the visitors depth in their squad for the conditions in Chepauk as they look to do the double against the five-time champion.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Nishant Sindhu, Moeen Ali, Mitchell Santner, Shaik Rasheed, Aravelly Avanish, Maheesh Theekshana, RS Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Richard Gleeson and Deepak Chahar.

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Yadav and Arshin Kulkarni.

Match start time: 7.30 PM (IST).

Openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, who made classy fifties on a slow pitch, produced a chasing masterclass to power Lucknow Super Giants to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in their IPL match in Lucknow on April 19.

Asked to bat first, Ravindra Jadeja came up with a solid unbeaten 57 before Mooen Ali (30 off 20) and MS Dhoni (28 off 9) went on a six-hitting spree to take CSK to a fighting 176 for six.

In reply, Rahul (82) and De Kock (54) batted with authority during their match-winning alliance of 134, the highest partnership for any wicket at the Ekana Stadium, as LSG scored 180 for 2 in 19 overs to recover from back-to-back loss and consolidate their position in the table.

CSK, who came into the match with twin wins, on the other hand, slumped to their third loss in this IPL.

Guilty of not capitalising on his starts, Rahul finally lived up to the expectations, smashing nine fours and three sixes in 53 balls, while De Kock overcame a scratchy start to hit five fours and a six in his 43-ball knock.

Chasing 177, Rahul was the aggressor as he played some magnificent strokes to give LSG a flying start.

The skipper was harsh on Deepak Chahar as he pulled the pacer for a six, before slapping him for another maximum over cover. He also hit him for a four off a slower delivery.

Rahul also produced a punch off the backfoot for a boundary off pacer Mustafizur Rahman as runs came thick and fast.

De Kock too smashed Tushar Deshpande for a maximum over deep midwicket as the powerplay yielded 54 for 0.

Rahul next sent a short-pitched ball from pacer Matheesha Pathirana over the third man for another maximum and the bowler was left further demoralised when he dropped De Kock’s catch at short third man off Jadeja in the ninth over.

After 10 overs, LSG were 89 for no loss.

Rahul notched up his 35th fifty with a four off Jadeja in the 11th over and then picked up another boundary to complete a 100-run opening stand with De Kock.

De Kock, who was subdued in the last three games, then reached his fifty in the 15th over with a single off Mustafizur, who removed him in the last ball.

However, Nicholas Pooran came out with all cylinders blazing, slamming Pathirana for a maximum, before sending Mustafizur on a leather hunt.

A one-handed catch from Jadeja finally ended Rahul’s fabulous knock but it was too late as Pooran (23 not out) and Marcus Stoinis (8 not out) knocked off the remaining runs.

Earlier, Rahul was spot on with his bowling changes as the pacers put the CSK batters under pressure initially before spinner Krunal Pandya tightened the noose in the middle overs.

Opener Rachin Ravindra’s (0) awful run continued as left-arm pacer Mohsin rattled his stumps, while Ruturaj Gaikwad (17) fell to Yash Thakur, who induced an outside edge from the CSK skipper.

Rahane (36), who opened the innings again, played some exquisite shots, pulling LSG debutant Matt Henry for the first six of their innings as 13 came off that over.

The Mumbaikar also carted two fours off Thakur to accumulate another 13 runs in the fifth over.

Jadeja, promoted to no. 4, picked a boundary off Henry in the next over as CSK scored 52 for 2 in the first six overs.

Owing to the slowness of the track, LSG skipper immediately introduced spinners Krunal and Bishnoi and the former struck in his second over, cleaning up Rahane.

CSK’s man-in-form Shivam Dube too failed to fire with Stoinis (1/7) justifying Rahul’s decision to hand over the ball to him, striking in his first ball as the left-handed batter sliced one up in the air.

Krunal then returned to dismiss impact player Sameer Rizvi, who paid the price for his premeditated dance down the track as CSK lost half their side with 90 on board.

Jadeja, who played some cracking sweep shots, held one end up and completed his fifty with a six off Mohsin to bring out his trademark sword-wielding celebration.

Rahul’s decision to give another over to Bishnoi, however, backfired as Moeen slammed three sixes as 19 came off the 18th over before perishing.

LSG paid the price for a sloppy overrate as Dhoni slammed a four and a six off Mohsin before smashing Thakur for another maximum. He finished the innings with two more fours as 19 came off the last over.

Scoreboard

Chennai Super Kings innings: Ajinkya Rahane b Pandya 36 Rachin Ravindra b Mohsin 0 Ruturaj Gaikwad (c) c Rahul b Thakur 17 Ravindra Jadeja not out 57 Shivam Dube c Rahul b Stoinis 3 Sameer Rizvi st Rahul b Pandya 1 Moeen Ali c Badoni b Bishnoi 30 MS Dhoni not out 28 Extras: (LB-1, W-3) 4

Total: (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 176

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-33, 3-68, 4-87, 5-90, 6-141.

Lucknow Super Giants bowling: Matt Henry 3-0-26-0, Mohsin Khan 4-0-37-1, Yash Thakur 4-0-45-1, Krunal Pandya 3-0-16-2, Ravi Bishnoi 4-0-44-1, Marcus Stoinis 2-0-7-1.

Lucknow Super Giants innings: Quinton de Kock c Dhoni b Mustafizur 54 KL Rahul c Jadeja b Pathirana 82 Nicholas Pooran (not out) 23 Marcus Stoinis (not out) 8 Extras (LB-3, NB-1, W-9) 13

Total (2 wickets, 19 overs) 180

Fall of wickets: 1-134, 2-161.

Chennai Super Kings bowling: Deepak Chahar 3-0-26-0, Tushar Deshpande 4-0-42-0, Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-43-1, Ravindra Jadeja 3-0-32-0, Matheesha Pathirana 3-0-29-1, Moeen Ali 1-0-5-0.

Mayank Yadav of Lucknow super giants exults with his teammates after dismissing Jitesh Sharma of Punjab Kings in the IPL match at Ekana Satdium, in Lucknow on March 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

Young Pace bowler Mayank Yadav grabbed three wickets while Mohsin Khan took two as Lucknow Super Giants defeated Punjab Kings by 21 runs despite openers Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow’s century partnership in Lucknow on March 30.

Chasing a tough 200-run target for victory after LSG had made 199/8, Shikhar smashed a 50-ball 70, while Bairstow was equally belligerent in his 29-ball 42 as the duo amassed 102 runs for the opening wicket.

LSG vs PBKS Live Score, IPL 2024

But Mayank struck when things were starting to look bleak for LSG, getting rid of Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma to return figures of 3/27. Mohsin chipped in with 2/34 as PBKS could only manage 178/5 in their 20 overs.

Earlier, wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock (54), stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran (42) and Krunal Pandya (43) played some big shots as the hosts made a strong bid to win at home.

Sam Curran emerged the most successful PBKS bowler grabbing three wickets for 28 runs.

Brief scores: Lucknow Super Giants 199 for 8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 54, Nicholas Pooran 42, Krunal Pandya 43; Sam Curran 3/28 Arshdeep Singh 2/30) beat Punjab Kings 178 for 5 in 20 overs overs (Shikhar Dhawan 70, Jonny Bairstow 42; Mayank Yadav 3/27, Mohsin Khan 2/34) by 21 runs.