🏏IPL 2025,M40 LSG vs DC on Apr22nd @Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow 🏏 - Page 3

However, LSG have a solid top three with Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram firing more often than not and it has given them an edge over opponents in the Power Play phase.

Lucknow's strong bowling lineup—featuring Digvesh Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, and Shardul Thakur, despite his tendency to be a bit expensive—has consistently stifled opponents without drawing much attention.

Avesh Khan’s impressive performance in the 18th and 20th overs during LSG’s narrow two-run victory over the Rajasthan Royals is a key example of their quiet effectiveness.

Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis' fitness concerns has put the Capitals in a spot of bother. The Capitals' opening has been a bit of roulette after Due Plesiss' injury, with Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abhishek Porel and the latest entrant Karun Nair coming in at the pole position.

However, the impressive form of KL Rahul has provided them stability in the middle-order. The star batter will be returning to Ekana, where he led the home side in the past three years. Rahul did face some scrutiny last season for his batting playing for LSG, but things have changed since his arrival at Delhi where he has redeemed himself as an attacking batter.

Axar has done a commendable job as captain and contributed 140 runs at a strike rate of 159, but those gains with the bat have overshadowed his decline as a bowler—managing just one wicket in seven matches while conceding at 9.36 runs per over. The added burden of leadership and batting higher in the order seems to have come at the cost of his core bowling strengths.

The DC management may need him to recalibrate soon, so they can restore balance and variety to their bowling attack.

Avesh new leader of LSG bowling attack!

Avesh Khan’s impressive performance in the 18th and 20th overs during LSG’s narrow two-run victory over the Rajasthan Royals has been the highlight of their campaign so far.

LSG's power-pack top-order!

LSG have a solid top three with Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram firing more often than not and it has given them an edge over opponents in the Power Play phase.

Axar Patel impresses as skipper!

Axar Patel has led well and made 140 runs at a strike-rate of 159, but those improvements have masked his diminishing returns as a bowler -- just a solitary wicket from seven matches at an economy of 9.36.

Faf's injury a big concern for DC!

Faf du Plessis, the DC vice-captain, hasn't played since April 10, when he suffered an injury during the away match against RCB. The nature of the injury also hasn't been confirmed.

Rishabh Pant needs to fire

The lukewarm form of skipper Rishabh Pant has been a massive issue for LSG. He has merely 106 runs from eight games and 63 of those came in a single match. His strike-rate of 98 is also a tad worrisome.

Thanks for the tag and thread, Soni!❤️

Thanks for the tag Soni 💙❤️.

18:20 Local Time, 12:50 GMT, 18:20 IST: Gujarat Titans are seated at the top of the points table with 12 points in 8 matches. There are four teams just below them on 10 points and two of them will lock horns against each other today at the Ekana Stadium. Hello everyone and a warm welcome to the 40th match of the Indian Premier League. It's Lucknow Super Giants (#5) vs Delhi Capitals (#2). While both sides are tied on points, the Super Giants have played an additional game and have an inferior NRR. These two sides faced off earlier in this competition which was a humdinger of a contest. The Capitals looked down and out at 65/5 chasing a 200+ target in Visakhapatnam but Ashutosh Sharma's heroics resulted in a dramatic win for them. Let's hope that we witness another close encounter tonight.

Thanks for the tag Soni.

May the best team win.

Cheers..

Nearly a month later, they meet again level on ten points each. DC in second place after playing seven games; LSG fifth after eight games. This season's race to the playoffs is heating up and both are serious contenders.

While DC won their first four matches - and most of them quite comfortably - they've hit some patchy form recently. They lost two of their previous three games and the one victory between the two defeats was via a Super Over against Rajasthan Royals.

LSG, on the other hand, have done remarkably well to get here on ten points, considering they started their season with four of their main Indian fast bowlers injured. Their margins of victory have been narrow but they've managed to win four of their previous five games - their only defeat coming against CSK of all teams this year. Apart from Mohsin Khan, who was ruled out of the season, all their bowlers are fit again, and we're waiting to see if they will unleash Mayank Yadav tonight. Remember him sending down 150 kph scorchers last year? He's had a succession of injuries since but is now fit again.