After that roller-coaster of a ride in Bangalore, Lucknow Super Giants return to BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium to face Punjab Kings on Saturday, April 15. The match will start at 7:30 PM IST.

KL Rahul’s Super Giants are currently second on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 points table with six points from four matches. A win will take LSG to the top of the points table once again. 

Super Giants have maintained a perfect home record in IPL 2023 with two wins out of two. They notched up a convincing 50-run win over Delhi Capitals in their opener and followed it up with a five-wicket win over 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.

LSG’s one-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was their first away win of the season after losing to Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk by 12 runs.

Punjab Kings, marshalled by Shikhar Dhawan, have played the same number of matches but are sixth with four points. They began their season with a seven-run (DLS) win over Kolkata Knight Riders and a five-run win over Rajasthan Royals batting first in high-scoring contests. 

The Kings, however, could not muster winnings scores against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans and lost comprehensively by eight and six wickets, respectively.

Super Giants to watch out for

Kyle Mayers has been productive this season but Quinton de Kock will likely resume the role of an opener against Punjab Kings. Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran scored quickfire 60s against RCB in the last match and will once again look to strike fear in the opposition camp.

If Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran are destructive with the bat, Mark Wood has been busy breaking wood with speeds of over 150 kmph in tandem with Avesh Khan’s variations.

Wood has played three matches this season and has picked up nine wickets at an economy of under eight and will look to get hold of the Purple Cap once again. LSG spin department, as usual, will be led by Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra and Krunal Pandya.

Punjab Kings’ Armoury

Shikhar Dhawan has already scored 233 runs in four matches and has carried his bat twice. He averages 116.50 at a strike rate of over 146 and is the current Orange Cap holder.

However, apart from Shikhar Dhawan, the rest of the batting lineup has lacked consistency. Dhawan’s opening partner Prabhsimran Singh gave his team a great start against Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening match but has failed since then. Matthew Short and Jitesh Sharma have also managed good starts but haven’t been able to convert them.

Kings’ bowling department will be led by Arshdeep Singh and their star all-rounder Sam Curran, who will hope their batters put on a few more runs on the board to defend. Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar will be their lead spinners on a surface that offers ample turn.

LSG vs PBKS head-to-head

Lucknow Super Giants faced Punjab Kings once last season. Krunal Pandya’s brilliant spell of 2/11 in four overs that day helped LSG notch a 20-run over PBKS after Quinton de Kock (46 off 37) and Deepak Hooda (34 off 28) led from the front.

With home advantage also with LSG this time, the Nawabs will hope to keep an upper hand over the Kings once again.

Match details

Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings, Match 21

Venue: BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

Time: 7:30 PM