The frailties of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) came to the fore after two back-to-back losses and their chances of resurgence gets tough as they face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on their home turf Ekana Stadium, in an IPL 2024 match on Friday.After two defeats, CSK got their act together and won two successive matches to get their campaign back on track, to be placed third in the points table.
LSG very well knows that any misstep from here could prove detrimental for their chances to qualify for the playoffs.In the three matches that have been played at this venue, no team has crossed 200. Moreover, LSG have successfully defended scores of 199 and 163, but failed to defend 167 against the Delhi Capitals. Their success in defending 160-plus totals doesn’t mask their failure in the batting department, where the top-order is yet to fire.
Quinton de Kock’s return with the bat has been poor, skipper KL Rahul has not been able to convert the starts, No.3 position is a concern and Marcus Stoinis looking out of sorts. The burden of the top-order failure is often shouldered by Nicholas Pooran in the middle-order.LSG’s scoring rate in the powerplay and the last overs have been the lowest by any team in this season.
If they fail to iron out these loopholes, the going would get tough for the LSG batters against a formidable bowling attack of CSK.CSK’s batting concerns are not of that magnitude as LSG with Ruturaj Gaikwad doing well at the top and an in-form Shivam Dube taking care of the middle overs. Going into the match, CSK would want Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin Ravindra to get going.
The Chennai outfit may replace a struggling Daryl Mitchell with Moeen Ali, who has a good bowling record against the LSG.Mayank Yadav may return for the game and if he does it would be a big boost for LSG at their home ground. On the other hand, Devon Conway has been officially ruled out of IPL 2024, and CSK have roped in Richard Gleeson as his replacement.The strip for the match would be red-soil that was used in the match against Punjab Kings, where LSG successfully defended 199.
The pitch is expected to aid batting and assist the quicks, and CSK would be happy to unleash his experienced pacers in Mustafizur Rahman and Shardul Thakur with Tushar Deshpande also chipping in.
