Lucknow: Lucknow SuperGiants are back at the fortress BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium for their third match of 2023 IPL as they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Friday.
The hosts almost breached Chennai Super Kings’ fortress at Chepauk in their previous match. Kyle Mayers (53 off 22) and Nicholas Pooran (32 off 18) led from the front in a stiff run-chase of 217, but LSG eventually fell short of the finish line by 12 runs.
The team expect the West Indian duo to start again against SRH.
The return of opener Quinton de Kock back to the squad gives Captain KL Rahul a good selection headache. Ayush Badoni came lower down the order and provided a strong finish in previous two games.
Purple cap holder Mark Wood, with eight wickets from two matches, will lead the attack on a pitch that has traditionally offered ample bounce. Ravi Bishnoi, LSG’s go-to man in the middle overs, will look to stem the flow of runs.
SRH were outplayed in all departments against Rajasthan Royals and the return of their captain Aiden Markram should help them big time. They also have a respectable bowling lineup consisting of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, speedster Umran Malik, and English spinner Adil Rashid.
Also, long boundaries in Lucknow mean the top edges off Umran won’t always fly away for sixes as easily as they did against RR.
LSG and SRH had clashed once last season. KL Rahul (68 off 50) and Deepak Hooda (51 off 33) had guided LSG to 169/7 before Avesh Khan (4/24) rattled the SRH lineup to help LSG win by 12 runs.
