Lucknow: Mumbai Indians are on a roll in the business end of the tournament and Lucknow Super Giants will be aiming to halt their momentum on a tricky pitch in the IPL here Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians are third on the points table with 14 points and with a point less from same the number of games, LSG are holding on to the fourth spot.
Both teams will be looking to get out of the danger zone as eight teams remain in the play-off contention.
Suryakumar Yadav is back to his breathtaking best and played a huge role in Mumbai’s wins in the previous two games.
Short of runs in the tournament, Rohit Sharma too found some rhythm against Gujarat Giants and will be looking to play a substantial knock at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cricket Stadium.
In Tilka Varma’s absence, Mumbai have found an able replacement in Nehal Wadehra, who seems to be getting better with every opportunity on the big stage.
On the bowling front, veteran spinner Piyush Chawla continues to make life tough for the batters while rookie Akash Badhwal has given the pace attack a much-needed boost.
Death bowling remains a concern with Jofra Archer’s replacement Chris Jordan leaking runs in the last two games.
It is expected to be another low-scoring game here and the spinners on either side could decide the fate of the game.
Leggie Ravi Bishnoi has been the leading wicket taker for LSG and stand in captain Krunal Pandya too showed what he could do with his left-arm spin against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Veteran spinner Amit Mishra is also expected to come into play considering the conditions. The pacers have proved to be a tad expensive especially Avesh Khan, who has an economy rate of 9.75 after nine games.
The batting looks formidable despite the absence of injured K L Rahul. Quinton de Kock has made instant impact as Rahul’s replacement at the top while Kyle Mayers is LSG’s leading run getter in the competition.
Then they have players who can win for the game even from a hopeless situation, like Nicholas Pooran did against Sunrisers.
Saurasthra batter Prerak Mankad showed what he is capable of at number three in the last game and will come out with additional confidence Tuesday night.
Squads:
Lucknow Super Giants: Krunal Pandya (captain), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Amit Mishra, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Naveen ul Haq, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Karan Sharma, Yudhvir Charak, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Mark Wood, Swapnil Singh, Manan Vohra, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Krishnappa Gowtham, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Karun Nair and Mayank Yadav.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Chris Jordan, Arshad Khan, Jason Behrendorff, Dewald Brevis, Piyush Chawla, Tim David, Raghav Goyal, Cameron Green, Ishan Kishan (wk), Duan Jansen, Chris Jordan, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Ramandeep Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Hrithik Shokeen, Tristan Stubbs, Arjun Tendulkar, Tilak Varma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Suryakumar Yadav.
PTI
