What sort of Ekana track will greet high-flying KKR?

Match details

Lucknow Super Giants (3rd; W6 L4) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2nd; W7 L3)
Lucknow, 19.30 IST (14.00 GMT)

Big picture

Fifty-plus games in, no team has qualified for the playoffs yet. Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants, sitting at No. 2 and No. 3 on the table at the moment, can still miss out on qualification. Neither team will want to get caught up in the mid-table muddle, and two points here could go a long way in sparing them that.

Form guide

LSG WLWWL (last five matches, most recent first)
KKR WWLWL

Previous meeting

Phil Salt (47-ball 89) and Mitchell Starc (3 for 28) helped the hosts thump LSG by eight wickets. LSG could post only 161 for 7 after they were put in, which was then chased down by the hosts in 15.4 overs.

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Lucknow Super Giants

LSG had middle-order batter Ashton Turner in their side in the last match in de Kock’s absence, and Arshin Kulkarni was brought in as the Impact Player to open with KL Rahul. LSG coach Justin Langer said that de Kock “should be ready to play the next game or so”. With Mayank out, LSG are likely to bring back Yash Thakur or Amit Mishra.

Probable XII: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Arshin Kulkarni, 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Mohsin Khan 12 Amit Mishra/ Yash Thakur

Kolkata Knight Riders

Harshit Rana will be back having served his one-match disciplinary ban. Manish Pandey was brought in as the Impact Player for Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the first innings during their match against MI after a batting collapse. He played a crucial knock of 42 to rebuild the innings along with Venkatesh Iyer. KK will likely go the same route in case they need an extra batting hand.

Probable XII: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Manish Pandey, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Harshit Rana, 12 Varun Chakaravarthy

In the spotlight

Marcus Stoinis has returned to form at the right time for LSG. After a brilliant solo effort against Chennai Super Kings, he bagged a duck against RR – a match which LSG lost – and then came back with another match-winning effort of 62 against MI on a slow wicket. LSG have also finally found the right position for him at No. 3, where he’s made those big scores. His good form has also taken the pressure off Nicholas Pooran to make up for the lack of runs from the top order. His medium pace has also come in handy – he’s dismissed the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav in the last two games.

A fifty against RCB aside, captain Shreyas Iyer is yet to make a significant impact with the bat in KKR’s good run this season. He has 257 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 137.43 and comes into the games with scores of 6, 33* and 28 in the last three games. He has got a few good starts but hasn’t been able to convert, and that’s not hurt KKR much only because of the contributions from the rest of the line-up. In the reverse fixture, he hit a run-a-ball 38 when Salt at the other end was hitting at a strike rate of nearly 190.

Pitch and conditions

While the pitch during LSG’s fixture against RR was batting-friendly, the one laid out against MI was on the slower side. Given KKR have a strong spin attack, the home side will not want to give away any advantage in that department. The average first-innings score at the venue since IPL 2023 has been 160.

Stats that matter

Quotes

“I think he’s really enjoying the elevation to No. 3 where he can take responsibility. When he opened the bowling the other day, he takes responsibility and I think that’s what happens with all the best players. They want to stand up and take responsibility under pressure and he’s doing that very well. He helps lead that energy, that warrior energy where you walk out in the middle and you’re just ready for the contest.”
Justin Langer on Marcus Stoinis’ impact