Punjab Kings (PBKS) will be locking horns with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 42nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Both sides are coming off a win in their previous game and they have had some good outings as well. Under the captaincy of Mayank Agarwal, PBKS had defended their total against the CSK on account of an excellent death bowling exhibition from the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, and Rishi Dhawan.
On the other hand, the Lucknow Super Giants put out an impressive performance in their previous game against the Mumbai Indians and got their campaign back on track. With five wins in the 8 matches they have played so far, the KL Rahul-led side is currently placed at the fourth position in the points table with ten points.
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Four out of the seven matches at the MCA Stadium have been won by teams batting first with Rajasthan Royals (RR) even going on to defend the lowest total of the season, 144. The dew hasn’t been of much help to chasing teams but the pitches have generally been kind to the batters, and spinners as the game progress. Barring the RR game, all other totals here have been in excess of 150.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
LSG’s seems to be having a visible weakness in their top-order with opener Quinton de Kock’s form tapering off after a couple of fifties in the first three games and only a combined 87 runs coming off the bat of the three options, they’ve tried at No.3 in the eight innings so far. Struggling for runs, Manish Pandey has been scoring at the rate of 7 against Rabada and has been twice dismissed by the South African in all T20s.
Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
LSG has only sparingly used Marcus Stoinis the bowler in this IPL, but his stellar record against Mayank – as he has dismissed him two dismissals in three games – might tempt Rahul into giving him a go at PBKS skipper, who’s had a middling season so far. However, leggie Ravi Bishnoi’s tapering form – just two wickets in the last four matches at 9+ RPO as compared to four in the first four games at under 7 – could make him an easy middle-overs target for his former side.
Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (c), Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Avesh Khan/Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi
Fantasy XI suggestion 1:
Lokesh Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Mayank Agarwal, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Ayush Badoni, Rishi Dhawan, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi
Fantasy XI suggestion 2:
Quinton de Kock (vc), Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jason Holder, Liam Livingstone (c), Krunal Pandya, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Mohsin Khan
