Coming at the back of two successive losses, Shikhar Dhawan’s Punjab Kings will face Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League fixture at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday.
Astruggling Punjab lords, two triumphs and two losses after four games, will look to turn the drift when it takes on a buoyant Lucknow Super titans, second in the points table, at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday.
A side brimming with all- rounders, Super titans have depth in fur and bowling with the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda in the XI.
The form of leader Avesh Khan will be a concern for LSG. He has three lattices in as numerous games at an frugality rate of 11. still, Mark Wood’s fiery form he’s alternate in the Purple Cap race with the ball will soothe captain KL Rahul’s jitters.
On the other hand, Punjab has plenitude to consider. T20 results are frequently told by how brigades handle the middle overs, a phase of play where the lords have faltered in the last two games. Power- megahit Liam Livingstone could help shake off the kind of indolence that had set in between overs 7 and 16 against the Gujarat elephants — PBKS made 52 in the Power Play but reached 100 in the 16th over. still, the English allrounder is doubtful to play against Lucknow after commander Shikhar Dhawan verified that Livingstone pulled a muscle at Punjab lords training before the GT game and is likely to be available in another “ 3- 4 days ”.
Punjab lords ’ six- gate defeat against the Gujarat elephants at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali was its alternate successive loss of IPL 2023.
It’ll take on a high- flying Lucknow Super titans next on Saturday. But before this down institution, Shikhar Dhawan’s men need to address their high fleck- ball count.
Against the elephants, Punjab had a stunning 54 blotches in its innings, that’s nine out of 20 overs gone without scoring. Gujarat, meanwhile, had 34 fleck balls.
The missing link for PBKS were the bones and twos once the field spread out, and those boundaries weren’t readily available. PBKS had 38 mates compared to GT’s 52 and five twos to GT’s 10.
What’s intriguing is Punjab’s boundary count of 21 (16 fours and five sixes), which was further than Gujarat’s 18( 17 fours and one six). Had Punjab managed to convert indeed half of those 54 blotches into bones and twos, it would ’ve ended up with an below- par score.
Punjab has presently faced the loftiest number of fleck balls in this time’s IPL, at 203, and has also faced the loftiest number of blotches between overs 7 and 16( 93), which puts into perspective its fur straits when the top- order struggles to get off to a flying launch.
Indeed if one takes into account the premise that there will be varying degrees of difficulty in strike gyration grounded on the venue, PBKS’s high fleck- ball chance against GT was hard to justify given that the match was played on pitch number 5 – there are eight pitches on the Mohali forecourt – which meant there was a large square boundary on one side( 74m) for the batters to place the ball in the gaps and run.
The handling between lattices will assume further significance on Saturday if Lucknow produces a tricky, two- paced black- soil face where shot- timber is delicate.
But PBKS will take heart from the fact that its bowlers were suitable to turn, what looked like an easy chase for GT, into a last- over suspenser. But it continues to be the side with the worst frugality rate at the death(13.11) and is over against a platoon, in which Nicholas Pooran walked out with the Super titans demanding 114 from 56 balls in pursuit of 213 against RCB and smashed a 19- ball 62 with seven sixes and four fours.
Pooran has been in great form, but Kagiso Rabada can prove to be a grueling tourney. In 31 balls to Pooran, he has conceded 39 and got him out doubly.
Another crucial element which does vault out from the LSG fur is the distribution of left- handers through the top six, with Kyle Mayers (opening the fur) there piecemeal from Krunal at No. 4 and Pooran at No. 6. It poses an intriguing double bind for the lords, who could use Rahul Chahar as Impact Player. Krunal and Pooran can be flexible with their fur position and hence can take down the SLA spin of Harpreet Brar and the leg spin of Chahar.
Meanwhile, LSG has been smart in using its home conditions. Against Delhi centrals, it played on a red- soil face and unleashed Mark Wood. It also blabbed out a black- soil face against a right- hand-heavy SRH and played its troika of baits. Hence, the choice of playing face will be of important interest. Know More Latest IPL News…
