(Cricket news) The least popular and talked-about of the four teams that advanced to the playoffs is Lucknow Super Giants. Even Gujarat Titans receive a lot more attention than them despite the fact that they obviously lack the lengthy histories of Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The leading run-getter for LSG this season is Marcus Stoinis, who is ranked 19th on the run lists. Ravi Bishnoi, their top bowler, is ranked 11th on the list of highest wicket-takers. They lack a top-tier fast bowler with experience, a wrist spinner with magic in his hands, and a potential Indian superstar.
The fact that LSG made the playoffs despite being without their normal skipper and star batter KL Rahul says a lot about Krunal Pandya’s leadership. They finished three of their last four games when he was in charge, winning those games at the very end of the league to easily qualify. The only thing they do share with the Titans is a shutout victory over one of the IPL’s most successful squads. Similar to Titans’ 3-0 record against CSK before Qualifier 1, LSG’s record against Mumbai, their opponents in the Eliminator, is 3-0. They only met once during the league portion of the season, and LSG prevailed at home by a score of 5 runs.
In recent games, LSG has won by setting and pursuing goals, although they have relied heavily on their foreign hitters, including Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Kyle Mayers, and Quinton de Kock, for the majority of their runs. In contrast to the ten fifty-pluses from foreign batters, their other Indian batters, besides Rahul, have only achieved two half-centuries all season.
Their powerplay bowling is another area where they would like to make improvements. In that phase, they’ve taken the fewest wickets, while during the league stage, they’ve allowed the most wicketless powerplays. With the new ball, they have utilised a range of bowlers, and early wickets will be essential against Mumbai’s deep and potent batting order.
Due to injuries to important players, Mumbai’s path to the playoffs was much more difficult, but they have once again benefited from discovering Indian talent: Akash Madhwal is quickly becoming their go-to death bowler, and Nehal Wadhera has impressed with his hitting prowess. They defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad on the penultimate day of the league to advance to the playoffs in fourth place, and the Titans then did them a service by eliminating RCB.
LSG is the greatest total defender this season, while Mumbai is the best chasing side. If either team wins the toss, they will need to decide what to do after taking into account the possibility of a slow pitch and whether or not dew will be an issue. There are no second chances: the victor advances to the final, the loser is eliminated.
Form guide
Mumbai Indians W L W W L
Lucknow Super Giants W W W L L
Squad Updates
There are no recognised fitness problems with LSG. Tilak Varma for Mumbai appears to be in good shape considering he was padded up for their previous game and was on their list of Impact Player subs.
Use of Impact subs
LSG will switch one of their frontline bowlers, such as Mohsin Khan or Yash Thakur, for an opening hitter like Karan Sharma. Similar to Mumbai, they would bat first if they want to bowl first and replace Tilak with a bowler like Madhwal or vice way if they choose to bowl first.
Predicted Playing Xll
LSG : 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Karan Sharma, 3 Krunal Pandya (capt), 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Prerak Mankad, 8 K Gowtham, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Mohsin Khan, 12 Yash Thakur
MI : 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Nehal Wadhera, 5 Tim David, 6 Tilak Varma, 7 Cameron Green, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Hrithik Shokeen/Kumar Kartikeya, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Jason Behrendorff, 12 Akash Madhwal
