Mumbai desperate to find their first win as Lucknow set course for Promised Land

As we arrive to another super Saturday, IPL is all set to play host to a crackling double-header that will feature a tidal clash of the Mumbai Indians and the Lucknow Super Giants to start the day with. This will be a contest of two teams with absolutely contrasting mindsets and approaches but with the perennial common objective of a victory.

The Mumbai Indians are in the midst of a burning campaign as they have started the latest edition of the tournament with five out of five defeats and no beacon of salvation in the imminent future. The Lucknow Super Giants have been flying extremely high on confidence after a solid start to their campaign, despite a drubbing in their latest encounter.

Mumbai will be coming to this clash on the back of their fifth consecutive defeat as Punjab Kings pipped them in a thriller to the finishing line. Odean Smith kept his nerve in the last over to leave Mumbai agonizingly short of the target despite a fine strike from Jaydev Unadkat in the first ball of the final over.

The scenes are somewhat identical for the Lucknow Super Giants when it boils down to the equation of the last game as they were pipped by the Rajasthan Royals in a nail-biting thriller, falling short of the stipulated target by a marginal 3 runs.

For Mumbai, they are still to figure out their perfect combinations and with the tumultuous upheaval that they are in the midst of, a calm sunset doesn't look likely on the horizon. Lucknow, on the contrary, have found a decent balance going into the contests but in a game of cricket, any past hardly stays relevant.

Venue Watch:

The pitch will have some decent bounce and carry in the initial overs for the fast bowlers as it was evident in the last game that was played here between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kolkata started stuttering way too early as the Sunrisers fast bowlers tightened the choke around their neck. However, the Orange Army had no ado whatsoever in chasing down the total that seemed pretty decent at first glimpse. The belter that we have here on offer at the Brabourne will be witness to another brewing run-fest that will find its way despite those earlier aforementioned hiccups for the batters.

Squads:

Mumbai Indians:

Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, M Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Riley Meredith, Mohd Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh

Lucknow Super Giants:

KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye*, Dushmantha Chameera, Ankit Rajpoot, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Kyle Mayers, K Gowtham, Evin Lewis.

Match Details:

Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants

Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Date: 16th April 2022

Time: 3:30 PM IST