Eyes on Rahul’s strike rate in the crucial match of Punjab and Lucknow
Lucknow Super Giants will be hoping for a better performance from their batsmen in the crucial Indian Premier League match against Punjab Kings on Friday. Both the teams have won four out of seven matches and every match has become important now in the race for the playoffs which is getting tougher. The track in Lucknow hasn’t been ideal for batting and skipper KL Rahul’s strike rate has been the talk of the town after they lost to Gujarat Titans chasing an easy target of 136 on Saturday. Rahul’s strike rate so far is 113. 91 but he can do better than that.
PCA Stadium is yet to score 200 runs this season but the pitch is better than Lucknow. Lucknow’s bowling attack has weakened in the absence of fast bowler Mark Wood. Wood has not played a single match since April 15 and the team is hopeful of his early return. Wood has taken the most wickets for them despite not playing three matches. Punjab Kings, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back after losing the last two matches. Regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan missed three matches due to a shoulder injury but could make a comeback in this match. Punjab have lost a few matches due to their mistakes but will not want to take any chances now.
At the top of the order, Prabhsimran Singh and Matthew Short will have to play tight while Liam Livingstone has not yet appeared in his rhythm. Stand-in skipper Sam Curran put up a fine show against Mumbai Indians and would like to keep it going. Arshdeep Singh has been effective with both the new and the old ball. The team now has to choose between Kagiso Rabada and Nathan Ellis, which is not easy.
Teams: Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Rahul Chahar, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Ellis, Gurnoor Brar, Harpreet Brar, Harpreet Singh, Vidwath Kaverappa, Liam Livingstone, Mohit Rathi, Prabhsimran Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, M Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Singh, Matthew Short, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Tayde. Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c & wk), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Kunal Pandya, Amit Mishra, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Naveen Ul Haq, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Karan Sharma, Yudhveer Charak, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Mark Wood, Swapnil Singh, Manan Vohra, Daniel Symes, Prerak Mankad, Krishnappa Gautam, Jaydev Unadkat, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav. The match will start at 7:30 pm Indian time.
