Punjab eager to continue momentum against an intimidating Super Giants

In what one would call a clash of the extremes, a confident Punjab Kings will be roaring into the warrior’s yard as they take on the Lucknow Super Giants in a battle of climbing up the pecking order. Both the sides will be desperate for a victory given the current status of the points table with Punjab teetering along the lines of hitting the upper half of the points table while for the Giants another defeat can put a deeper blemish on their fine start to the campaign.

Punjab will be buoyed by their win in the war of the kings, thanks to some emphatic death bowling that didn’t allow Chennai to break free from the manacles. Shikhar Dhawan finally found himself in the middle of runs as he led the charge for Punjab in the preceding encounter.

Livingstone played a blitz before being removed that would allow Punjab to pile up 187 on the cards. Rabada and Arshdeep Singh made the difference with the ball in their hands with some terrific bowling in the final overs, cutting their run-supply.

The Lucknow Super Giants flipped the tide in their favour as they bested the likes of an ailing Mumbai Indians with their bowlers pulling out magic off the hat. In a modest-scoring encounter going by the standards of IPL 2022, the Giants struggled to get into their free-flowing stride but their bowlers were bang on their money to apply the brakes.

This is going to be a contest of two hungry teams with totally different approaches. For Punjab, it is unreserved striking of the cherry while for the Giants it is a more calculated stance but if needed, they have a hidden beast lurking just beneath the surface.

Venue Watch:

The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium will be playing the perfect host to a decent degree of spin. This surface has so far been a pretty balanced track with something for everyone. The last game that was played here saw Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore go toe-to-toe with each other where both batting units faltered. The second half of the game gets prone towards an additional bout of turn that makes life a slight easier for the teams defending. The average T20 scores in this stadium lingers between 160 to 170 that makes this a low-scoring ground in comparison to the other tracks that this tournament has seen in action.

Squads:

Punjab Kings:

Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Odean Smith, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Sharma, Atharva Taide, Vaibhav Arora, Ansh Patel, Raj Angad Bawa, Benny Howell, Rishi Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (wk), Baltej Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Nathan Ellis, Prerak Mankad.

Lucknow Super Giants:

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

Match Details:

Punjab Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants

Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

Date: 29th April 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST