🏏IPL 2023: Match 3 - LSG vs DC on 01/04/23 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

🏏IPL 2023: Match 3 - Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on 01/04/23 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

Tag and Logo credit goes to Sandy aka Sevenstreaks

Player availability an issue as Super Giants and Capitals get their campaigns on the road

Impact Player rule in focus: Super Giants could start with three overseas players, while Capitals look to plug allrounder's holeAfter an impressive inaugural season where they made it to the playoffs, Lucknow Super Giants will play at their home ground for the first time, with the IPL returning to the tradition home-and-away format.

Last year, Super Giants' middle order looked brittle at times, so at the auction, they bought Nicholas Pooran. How much they value his batting is clear from the price they paid - INR 16 crore (USD 1.95 million approx.) - for him despite already having two wicketkeeping options in KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock in their first-choice XI.

Super Giants' squad is brimming with allrounders, which is a big advantage. However, left-arm quick Mohsin Khan's shoulder injury, in head coach Andy Flower's words, is "a blow" for the team. Moreover, Flower is not expecting him to be available at all this season.

Delhi Capitals are without their regular captain, Rishabh Pant, this year. But in David Warner, they have a leader who has won the IPL previously, in 2016 with Sunrisers Hyderabad. Prithvi Shaw and Mitchell Marsh's batting form also bode well for them. In fact, Marsh is expected to bowl as well this season.

While Capitals still lack a genuine allrounder, their head coach Ricky Ponting is confident the Impact Player rule will help them plug that hole.

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 3

Deadline for toss prediction: 6:59 PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 7:29 PM IST

Thanks for the tag. So confused abt prediction for this game

LSG vs DC Weather Report

The match will begin at 7:30 pm on April 1. There is almost no chance of rain in Lucknow during the match. The conditions are ideal for cricket and we should get a full game.

LSG vs DC Pitch Report

The pitch at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium is known for low scores. A T20I between India and New Zealand was played at this venue in January. That match was not a high-scoring affair as the visitors were bundled out for 99 in the first innings. Spinners will certainly get some help from the wicket and batters will need to apply themselves. Only set batters will be able to play their shots.

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Lucknow Super Giants

Super Giants could start with three overseas players, irrespective of whether they bat first or bowl. If they bat first, their three overseas players could be Kyle Mayers, Pooran and Marcus Stoinis. In the second innings, Mark Wood can come in as an Impact Player for a batter, say Ayush Badoni.

Probable bat-first XI: 1 KL Rahul (capt & wk), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Prerak Mankad, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Ravi Bishnoi

If they bowl first, they could start with Mayers, Stoinis and Wood, with Pooran replacing Wood in the chase.

Probable bowl-first XI: 1 KL Rahul (capt & wk), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Prerak Mankad, 8 Jaydev Unadkat, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Ravi Bishnoi

Delhi Capitals

In Pant's absence, Sarfaraz Khan is likely to keep wicket. He had donned the big gloves in three matches during the latest Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well.

If Mustafizur is not available, it weakens Capitals' death bowling. To counter that, they may beef up their batting by having four overseas batters in their XI. Ishant Sharma could be the Impact Player and replace Shaw when they bowl.

Probable bat-first XI: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Rilee Rossouw, 5 Sarfaraz Khan (wk), 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Aman Khan/Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Chetan Sakariya, 11 Khaleel Ahmed

If they are bowling first, Ishant starts, with Shaw replacing him in the chase.

Probable bowl-first XI: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Sarfaraz Khan (wk), 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Aman Khan/Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Chetan Sakariya, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Ishant Sharma

But if Mustafizur is available, Ishant sits out, and Lalit Yadav replaces Powell. In that scenario, Mustafizur could share the Impact Player role with Shaw. That, though, would also mean three left-arm seamers in the side, to go with two left-arm spinners.

Stats that matter

• Since the start of 2021, Rahul's powerplay strike rate in the IPL is just 109.73. He picks up as the innings progresses, scoring at 149.09 in the middle phase and 207.14 at the death.
• In the same time period, Rahul hasn't been able to score freely against left-arm fingerspinners: a strike rate of 111.46 even though he has a healthy average of 35.00. Capitals can use Axar Patel to tie him down. Against Axar, Rahul has managed only 22 runs off 34 balls while getting out twice.
• In contrast, Pooran has smashed Axar for 30 runs off nine balls without any dismissals. Pooran can be equally destructive against pace as well. In fact, he is one of only three batters in IPL history with 200-plus runs at a strike rate of above 150 against both pace and spin. Andre Russell and Virender Sehwag are the other two.
• In T20 cricket, Ravi Bishnoi has dismissed Warner three times in six balls. He has had the better of Powell too: four dismissals in 34 balls for 28 runs.

Thank you for the tag Rajji🤗

But I thought we have only one match for today😲

Originally posted by: Moonks

Thank you for the tag Rajji🤗

But I thought we have only one match for today😲

Cheers..

Originally posted by: Moonks

Thank you for the tag Rajji🤗

But I thought we have only one match for today😲

Double header on weekends Kusum

Thank you Raji for the Match -3 thread and tagging me. 🤗

I'll support DC.