IPL2022 Match 53: Lucknow Super Giants Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
[Tag and Logo credit goes to Sevenstreaks aka Sandhya]
In Match 53 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday
Both sides haven’t yet faced each other in the fifteenth season of the cash-rich league. With seven wins out of 10 matches, Lucknow are comfortably sitting at the second spot, while Kolkata, with only 4 victories out of 10 games, are placed at the eighth spot in the points table.
In Super Giants' last two games, they replaced a struggling Manish Pandey with a bowler. That gave Deepak Hooda a chance to bat at No. 3, where he notched up scores of 34 off 28 and 52 off 34.
But with their middle order still underperforming, playing one batter fewer could also backfire, as it almost did against Punjab Kings before Dushmantha Chameera and Mohsin Khan rescued them with some lusty blows towards the end.
Their bowling attack, though, is without any holes. They have the pace of Chameera, the left-arm angle of Mohsin, and the death-bowling skills of Avesh Khan and Jason Holder. When it comes to spin, Ravi Bishnoi's fast legbreaks, sliders and googlies are there, as is an upgraded version of Krunal Pandya's left-arm spin. While their batting has largely revolved around KL Rahul, six of their bowlers have picked up eight or more wickets in the tournament.
Knight Riders put an end to their five-match losing streak with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals, but there is no end to their problems. Their openers haven't fired. Their bowlers, with the exception of Sunil Narine, have had mixed returns. They have even dropped two of their retained players, Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy.
However, if their bowlers can dismiss Rahul and Quinton de Kock early, they can surprise Super Giants, as a lot of other match-ups are in their favour.
Probable XIs:
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Dushmatha Chameera, Avesh Khan/K Gowtham, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
Kolkata Knight Riders: Baba Indrajith, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi
Pitch report:
In all the 10 games played in Pune, captains have bowled first, and seven times of those 10, the team batting first won the contest. A similar trend is likely to take place in this game as well. The track will get better for spinners as the game progresses.
The last game played at this venue was the RCB vs CSK match which was the 49th of the season. CSK lost the game as they failed to chase 174. The venue has been a decently high-scoring one with the teams batting first definitely having an advantage.
Weather Forecast:
Dew has not played a big role in the last few games at this venue. The temperatures in the evening have stayed between 30-35 degrees and are expected to stay the same. The pitches in the second half of the season have started to turn and grip a bit more. KKR as a side has fancied chasing while Lucknow has favoured batting first.
Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers ahead of Match 53 between Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League 2022:
0 – KKR has never won while batting first during IPL 2022. All their four wins have come while chasing.
6 – Marcus Stoinis needs six more sixes to reach 150 sixes in T20 cricket. He also needs eight more fours to reach the milestone of 350 fours in T20 cricket.
7 – Kolkata Knight Riders have a perfect record with seven wins at Pune.
19 – Sunil Narine needs to score 19 runs to reach the landmark of 1000 runs in the IPL. He will become the second player to score 1000+ runs and take 150+ wickets in the IPL after Dwayne Bravo.
44 – Marcus Stoinis needs to score 44 more runs to reach the milestone of 4000 runs in T20 cricket.
2 – Deepak Hooda (48) needs two sixes to complete 50 maximums in the IPL.
1 – Krunal Pandya (49) needs one six to reach 50 sixes in the IPL.
4 – Shreyas Iyer (96) is four sixes away from completing 100 maximums in the tournament.
73 – Andre Russell (1927) needs 73 runs to reach 2000 runs in the IPL.
3 – Dushmantha Chameera (97) is three scalps away from completing 100 wickets in T20 cricket.
1 – Nitish Rana (149) will be playing his 150th T20 match.
6 – Andre Russell (544) needs six sixes to get to 550 maximums in the T20 games.
2 – Aaron Finch (148) is two grabs away from reaching 150 catches in T20 cricket.
28 – Deepak Hooda (2472) needs 28 runs to get to 2500 runs in the T20 matches.
4 – Mohammad Nabi (4996) needs four runs to get to 5000 runs in T20 cricket.
47 – Narine (2953) also needs 47 runs to reach 3000 runs in the T20 games.
Stats that matter:
In each of the ten games in Pune, captains have opted to bowl after winning the toss. However, their teams won only three of those games.
Among those who have bowled at least ten overs in the middle phase this season, Narine (5.00) has the best economy rate. Pandya is second on that list with 5.95.
Rahul has taken Narine for 131 runs off 72 balls (strike rate 181.94) for two dismissals.
So far, Knight Riders have tried five opening pairs, the most by any team in the competition, and their average opening stand of 14.40 is the worst in the tournament.
Deep Dasgupta: Game number 11 here on pitch number six.
The average score on this used surface is 170. The two previous games (on the pitch) were played in the first half but the spinners have played a bigger role as the tournament has progressed.
There has been more help when the spinners have bowled slower, less than 90kph.
The grass has been shaved off, not much grass left and that has exposed the top soil. It is nice and hard but a bit abrasive. It is going to help the spinners a lot more especially with dew not being a factor.