Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bowl first in their IPL 2024 clash at the Ekana stadium on May 5. KL Rahul made one change in LSG's playing XI as he brought back Yash Thakur in place of ruled-out Mayank Yadav. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer didn't make any change in KKR's playing XI.
What did the captains say?
After losing the toss KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer said:
“We would have bowled as well. Defending that total with five bowlers in the last game gives us a lot of confidence. There's a lot of self-belief in the team. We are going with the same team. Hopefully we continue with the same form. He has been optimistic from game one and just that he wasn't able to execute. He (Venkatesh Iyer) got tremendous and charater and happy for the way he executed. It's important to stay in the present.”
Meanwhile, LSG captain KL Rahul after winning the toss said:
“We will bowl first. I'm not a best reader of a wicket, we just like chasing. The good thing is we have been able to adapt really well and quickly to the conditions, there have been quite a few brilliant individual performances as well. There's been a lot of talk about strike-rate, and T20 cricket has changed a lot in the last couple of years. He was injured in the last game, Yash Thakur comes in for Mayank Yadav.”
Kolkata Knight Riders' Playing XI
Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana
Lucknow Super Giants' Playing XI
KL Rahul(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ashton Turner, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur.
Head-to-Head
Despite having played each other four times in the IPL, Kolkata have only managed one victory, while Lucknow have dominated with three wins.
Pitch Report
"A gentle breeze blowing across the ground. This is one of the biggest grounds in India. Straight down the ground is 76m, square boundaries - 68m and 61m. The dimensions will make a bit of a difference, we've seen the ball into the surface being used particularly with one side bigger than the other right throughout this tournament. When we come to the wicket, this is the third time that this surface is being used. There's a hint of green grass on it, but there are some bare red patches. We expect it to slow down a little bit more than what it might have in the past. Anywhere around that 190-200 will be a good score batting first. First time 199 was defended, second time 176 was easily chased down. The last time when Lucknow played here, the ball just held in the surface, particularly for the spinners. With a real good quality spin attack in both line-ups, that will play a big part in tonight's game. I reckon the team that wins the toss will still want to field first because of the dew factor and teams have chased big scores down," Ravi Shastri and Aaron Finch analysed the pitch.
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