Five-time champions Mumbai Indians lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants as Rohit Sharma-led side won the toss and opted to bowl first in their IPL match on Saturday.
"We will look to bowl first. Since it's a day game we tried to get another slower ball. It's a good pitch to play cricket and with his experience coming in, it will be good for us. We got Tymal, Fabian, Polly and Brevis. We just need to keep things under control and stay calm, it's that simple. We don't need to overcomplicate things. We just need to come out and play basic cricket and will be focussing on doing that," MI skipper Rohit Sharma said before the match.
"We are playing some good cricket since the first game. It's a new team and the boys are coming together really well and we always found a way to stay in the game. We have one change. Gowtham misses out and Manish Pandey comes in," LSG captain KL Rahul said.
Mumbai are yet to open their account on the points table. Their net run rate (NRR) has also plunged to minus 1.072, which has left their fans worried about whether Rohit Sharma's side would be able to reach the playoffs or not. Meanwhile, LSG are sitting fifth on the points table after winning three matches out of five.
Pitch report
"The weather is set fair. This pitch was used in match 2 (Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals) in this IPL. It's very good for batting and it's very hard. There is a bit of grass covering and we had good bounce in the last game. You get more value by bowling short. A very good track for batting and I'd be tempted to bat first," reckons former England spinner Graeme Swann.
Lucknow Super Giants' Playing XI):
KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.
Mumbai Indians' Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills.
