Lucknow Super Giants will face Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming game of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on 14th April at Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Match Preview:
Lucknow has been on-par so far in this edition of the IPL. Although the captain, Rishabh Pant, is yet to fire in this 2025 edition, his team has been on fleek. LSC’s top-order has been one of the reasons they have been winning this edition. They have won their last three games and the last was against the top and high-flying Gujarat.
Nicholas Pooran has been the cornerstone of the team as he scored 61 off 34 in the last game as well. In fact, he has hit almost more sixes (31) than all the CSK players (32) this season. So, if Lucknow want to continue their winning streak, Pooran has to keep firing on all cylinders.
Besides Pooran, Aiden Markram’s return to form and Mitcehll Marsh’s aggressive approach have assisted LSG as well. The batting has been so good that the side is yet to lose a wicket in the powerplay and is striking at 10+ in the first six overs.
In the last game, both the spinners, rookie Digvesh Rathi and Ravi Bishnoi gained their form as well, as they bowled well enough to restrict GT at a modest total of 180.
Talking about Chennai, they have been dealing with a lot of issues and it is evident from the fact that they have lost their last five games in the season and it has happened for the very first time.
According to the EspnCricInfo, CSK batter tried to hit boundaries only 15 times in their last game against KolKata Knight Riders (KKR). It shows the side has been struggling massively and failed to find stability even after MS Dhoni has replaced injured Ruturaj Gaikwad in the role.
CSK batters have struggled against spin as well and they don’t have any batter in the top-10 as well. The bowling has been nice with Noor Ahmed has been a standout bowler for them. Nevertheless, if CSK want to win, their batting needs to set-up big time in the upcoming game of the ten-team tournament.
Probable Playing XIIs:
LSG: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh/Himmat Singh, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Avesh Khan, 12 Digvesh Rathi
CSK: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Anshul Kamboj, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Khaleel Ahmed, 12 Matheesha Pathirana
Pitch and weather report:
This season, Ekana Stadium’s average score when batting first is 184. Spinners will be used because the ground dimensions are some of the largest in the nation. Since IPL 2024, the chasing team has won six of ten games played here.
Head-to-head record:
LSG and CSK have faced off on the field five times. LSG has won four of these five games, while CSK has only won one.
Prediction:
Given how LSG has been performing in away games and now they will be playing at home with in-form players, they are favourites to win their upcoming encounter against CSK.
Where to Watch:
India: Star Sports Network, JioHotstar
Australia: Kayo TV, FoxTel Go
Bangladesh: T Sports, Toffee app
New Zealand: Sky Sports NZ
South Africa: SuperSport
Sri Lanka: Dialog
UK: Sky Sports, SkyGo
USA: Willow TV
Afghanistan: ATN
MENA: Cricbuzz
