As the third match of the 2023 Indian Premier League awaits, Lucknow Super Giants as well as Delhi Capitals, both sides will look forward to getting a solid start. The Super Giants will step on the field with home advantage as the match will take place at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi Capitals’ last season wasn’t actually a success as they ended their campaign in the 5th spot eventually failing to qualify for the playoffs. Last season, Rishabh Pant’s team would have qualified for the playoffs as they had a better net run rate than Royal Challengers Bangalore.
On the other side, Lucknow Super Giants’ first season was not as good as compared to the other team which made their debut, Gujarat Titans. KL Rahul’s side secured the third spot in the league table with 18 points. However, after qualifying in the playoffs, they lost the eliminator by 14 runs against RCB.
Moreover, teams have added more depth to their line-ups after the IPL auction that took place a couple of months ago. LSG has brought Nicholas Pooran for a swooping amount of INR 16 Crores regardless of his form on Indian pitches, hence, his purchase remains highly questionable for fans.
Other respective additions to the side are Jaydev Unadkat, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Naveen ul Haq, and Yudhvir Charak. Hence, all the other purchases except Pooran were under the one crore mark for Super Giants.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals suffered a major blow as they got to know about the heart-wrenching accident of their skipper, Rishabh Pant. Hence, Rishabh’s participation was ruled out of the competition. As a result, David Warner was named the new captain of the side while Axar Patel has become the vice-captain.
Delhi’s prominent buys in the auction were Mukesh Kumar (INR 5.5 Cr), Rilee Rossouw (INR 4.6 Cr), Manish Panday (INR 2.4 Cr), Phil Salt (INR 2 Cr), and Ishant Sharma (INR 50 lacs).
What have they done so far?
Quinton de Kock played an important role for Lucknow Super Giants last season
Lucknow Super Giants has a decent season last year as their campaign ended against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator. On the other side, Delhi Capitals fell a little short of qualifying for the playoffs after they lost against their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in a must-win last game.
As it will be the first match for both franchises, we’ll take a look at the past performances of the players. Last season, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock’s opening pair were the sources of Lucknow Super Giants’ sheer strength as they acquired the 2nd and 3rd spot in the orange cap race just behind eventual winner, Jos Buttler.
In 15 innings, Rahul scored 616 runs with an average of 51. Moreover, he also scored a total of two centuries with his highest score being 103, which came against the prolific bowling line-up of Mumbai Indians.
The other opening batsman of Super Giants, former South African skipper Quinton de Kock’s highest score last season was 140 which he smashed against Kolkata Knight Riders. De Kock easily smashed ace bowlers such as Tim Southee, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine. He gathered a massive total of 508 runs in his five innings.
For Delhi Capitals, David Warner was the top run scorer. With a decent average of 48, he scored 432 runs in 12 matches, and his highest score was 92 which he scored against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Looking at the bowling, Kuldeep Yadav was surely Delhi’s x-factor. The Chinaman bowler picked up 21 wickets in 14 matches with an economy rate of almost 9. Moreover, he took four wickets in a single match on two different occasions. His best figures (14/4) were seen against KKR, where he took the important wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell.
For Lucknow Super Giants, their most crucial bowler was Avesh Khan. The right-arm fast bowler grabbed 18 wickets in 13 matches. Consequently, his best figure (24/4) came during LSG’s win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Head to Head Record
Lucknow Super Giants debuted in the Indian Premier League last season. Hence, both sides have played against each other only a couple of times. Consequently, Delhi Capitals are still to win a match against KL Rahul’s side.
Super Giants won the toss and decided to bowl first in their first meeting which proved to be a great decision. Except for Prithvi Shaw, all the other batsmen suffered against Lucknow’s bowling line-up, especially against Ravi Bishnoi and Gowtham Krishnappa. On the batting end, former Delhi Capitals’ star, Quinton de Kock’s 80-run innings was enough to help his side win.
The teams met for the second time at Wankhede Stadium and the Super Giants roared once again to get another pivotal win. Batting first, Lucknow posted a target of 196 for Rishabh Pant’s XI. While chasing the total, Delhi’s opening pair quickly collapsed. Axar Patel and Rowman Powell tried to secure two points but they fell short by six runs.
Key Players
Mitchell Marsh (Delhi Capitals): In the recent ODI series, Marsh was named the player of the series. In the first match, he scored 81 runs, followed by a 66-run not out innings in the 2nd match.
He also displayed a great game in the third match of the series too as he scored 47 runs. His form will play a major role for the Capitals as they have to fill the void of Rishabh Pant’s absence.
Australia defeated India in the T20I series with Mitchell Marsh starring for the visitors
Quinton de Kock (Lucknow Super Giants): The former South African skipper has always been a high-value player. From international to domestic, Quinton De Kock’s impeccable importance never decreases. He recently scored his maiden T20 international century against the West Indies.
In addition to that, de Kock’s experience also helps the team. Last season, he also helped the team grasp a number of him. So, it would be interesting to see how he starts his campaign this season against Delhi Capitals.
Predicted Playing XIs
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner (C), Mitchell Marsh, Manish Pandey, Abhishek Porel (wk), Rowman Powell, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), Nickolas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mark Wood, Jaydev Unadkat, Avesh Khan
Prediction
As it will be the first match for both teams, it’s really hard to predict the outcome. However, as we take a slight glimpse at the form of Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Axar Patel, Rowman Powell and more, it seems like they will give Delhi Capitals a huge push.
On the other hand, KL Rahul’s side also looks strong as they commence their campaign on their home ground. Also, they’ll be confident as the Capitals are still winless against them. But, we expect Delhi Capitals to triumph over Super Giants for the very first time.