Lucknow Super Giants players celebrate their win over Chennai Super Kings. They will up against the high-flying Rajasthan Royals in Lucknow on April 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Far from the pack occupied in the mid-table scrap for the playoffs spots, Rajasthan Royals will indulge itself in the prospect of strolling its way in when it visits Lucknow Super Giants at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on April 27.

Runaway leader Rajasthan has won all three away games so far, and a fourth triumph will take its tally to 16 points, all but sealing a place in the playoffs.

Yashasvi Jaiswal regaining his mojo with an unbeaten 104 in the nine-wicket mauling of Mumbai Indians wiped out the only blemish in the Royals’ top-order. Captain Sanju Samson would hope to emulate his exploits (82 n.o., 52b) from the Royals’ 20-run victory over the Lucknow side earlier this season.

But Super Giants, high on the twin triumphs over Chennai Super Kings (CSK), will be no pushovers. The side will wait with crossed fingers for Mayank Yadav’s return from injury. The pace phenom bowled in the nets on the match eve.

Taking cognisance of Rahul and Marcus Stoinis’ telling contributions in the Super Giants’ two wins, another leg-spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal, could be Royals’ go-to deployment too. This IPL, Rahul’s strike-rate has dipped to 93 against leg-spin while Stoinis has fallen to spinners five times in eight innings.

Lower down the order, Royals will seek a solution for Nicolas Pooran. The southpaw has salvaged his side by injecting momentum, hitting at a strike-rate of nearly 170 — the highest for a Lucknow batter.

Teams (from):

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj.

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.

LSG’s Mayank Yadav during the IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) vs Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (KSCA), in Bengaluru on April 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Mayank Yadav was too hot to handle. The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer cranked it up, going as high as 156.7 kmph, forcing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to back away from the fight.

The Mayank fire was lit in his first over, when he pinned Glenn Maxwell with a quick, short ball. Mayank then created magic, when he castled Australian Cameron Green with sheer pace. Green was much too late on the express delivery, meekly losing his off-stump.

Rajat Patidar was Mayank’s third victim — another short ball doing the trick. The home team, out for the count after Mayank’s blows, lost by 28 runs.

RCB vs LSG Live Score Updates, IPL 2024

RCB’s hopes rested on Impact Player Mahipal Lomror (33, 13b, 3×4, 3×6), who kept the crowd interested with some big hits. But when he fell in the 18th over, RCB’s fate was sealed.

RCB would have believed it gained a big advantage by winning the toss and opting to chase.

On a sticky M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch, it was left to Quinton de Kock (81, 56b, 8×4, 5×6) and Nicholas Pooran (40 n.o., 21b, 1×4, 5×6) to take LSG to a respectable total.

Opener de Kock waged a lone hand at the top of the order. De Kock received a life on 32, when Maxwell failed to hold on to a tough chance at mid-off.

LSG skipper K.L. Rahul, cleared to play after recovering from an injury, was tentative in his 14-ball 20. Devdutt Padikkal (6) was sent back through an excellent catch from wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat. de Kock cut loose in the 13th over, when he hammered a wayward Green for two sixes and a four.

RCB was quickly back on top, as LSG limped to 148 for five in 18 overs. Pooran sprung into action against left-arm seamer Reece Topley, who in search of the wide yorker, erred with full tosses. Pooran hit it into the point stands for two sixes, and then smashed a short ball onto the stadium roof. Pooran hit two maximums in the final over, bowled by Mohammed Siraj, to give LSG a crucial late fillip.

Lucknow Super Giants players celebrate a wicket during an IPL match. FIle
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Lucknow Super Giants is back on familiar turf. It should be hoping to get back into form as it takes on Punjab Kings in its first home match of the 17th edition of the IPL.

After the defeat to Rajasthan Royals last Sunday, LSG would want the season’s trend to continue: every team has won its first match at home. For Punjab Kings, this is the third game: it won the first and then lost the second.

Though it is very much the early days yet, no team would want to register two losses on the trot. So, much is at stake at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium on Saturday.

LSG, which qualified for the playoffs in both the editions it took part in, would be keen to put up a good show in front of its fans. For that, more of the 11 — or 12, at times — need to contribute.

Captain K.L. Rahul and Nicholas Pooran showed form against Royals, but the likes of Quinton de Kock and Devdutt Padikkal have to remain at the wicket longer. Bowlers like Ravi Bishnoi and Mohsin Khan have to be sharper, as well.

As for Kings, they need to put behind them the terrible finish to their match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They would be hoping for Jonny Bairstow to regain his touch at the top of the order, where skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh also have to deliver.

Kagiso Rabada and Harpreet Brar may not mind more support in the bowling department.

Teams(from):

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Shamar Joseph, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, K. Gowtham, Shivam Mavi, Arshin Kulkarni, M Siddharth, Ashton Turner, David Willey, Mohd. Arshad Khan.

Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajann, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.

Match starts at 7.30 PM IST.