Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will host the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants in the 39th match of the 2024 Indian Premier League season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, on Tuesday.
Both teams have won four out of the seven matches they have played so far in the IPL 2024, but Chennai Super Kings are in third place due to their superior run rate, while Lucknow Super Giants are in fifth place in the points table.
What has happened so far?
Chennai Super Kings have had a topsy-turvy campaign so far in IPL 2024. After winning their first two matches, the Super Kings lost their next two matches. But they won two straight games to get back to their winning ways.
However, they lost to the Lucknow Super Giants in their most recent game because their opening batters struggled to score runs with the bat and their bowlers were unable to get early breakthroughs in the bowling attack.
Thus far in IPL 2024, LSG’s campaign has been a complete whirlwind. After losing their first game, they went on to win three successive matches. But following that, they lost their next two games before making a tremendous comeback in their last game against CSK.
Their bowlers gave outstanding performances, preventing the CSK from making a huge total. Subsequently, the Super Giants’ opening duo unleashed a devastating blowout, putting a 134-run opening stand to win the game and ensure two vital points for the team.
Head to Head Record
In four IPL matches, CSK and LSG have faced off against one another and the Super Kings have won one of these four games, while the Super Giants have won two of them. However, one match was called off because of rain during the second innings.
Lucknow Super Giants registered a commanding victory of eight wickets over the Chennai Super Kings in the match played at LSG’s home ground on Friday.
Key Players
Shivam Dube might book his ticket to the USA as the backup all-rounder
Shivam Dube (Chennai Super Kings): The Super Kings batting so far has revolved around Shivam Dube and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad as other batters haven’t been able to contribute significantly to the team’s scores in various matches.
In this kind of scenario, the team would be hoping to get a solid knock from Shivam Dube in the middle order. Dube has scored 245 runs with an average of 49.00 and a superb strike rate of 157.05 in IPL 2024 so far. CSK would be hoping to get a solid start from the top order so that Dube can build on that in the middle overs.
KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants): The situation in the LSG’s batting order is similar to that of the Super Kings. KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran scored the majority of the runs for the team, though Quinton de Kock’s last inning against CSK will boost his and the team’s confidence.
Again, it will be the skipper’s responsibility to get the team off to a good start so that later the team can build on it. The opening batter has been in good form and scored 286 runs with an average of 40.86 and a healthy strike rate of 143.
Team News from Both Camps
Mayank Yadav won two Player of the Match awards to kick off his IPL career with aplomb and his precision was appreciated by all pundits.
The speedster has been away for the past few games due to injury but he was spotted training before Friday’s match against CSK. Head coach Justin Langer also confirmed that Yadav is a couple of training sessions away from being match fit, so there’s a high chance he will make his eagerly anticipated comeback in Tuesday’s game.
Midway through a season, the defending champions are rarely renowned for making drastic changes. Deepak Chahar returned in the most recent game against LSG and should continue in the playing XI.
Predicted XIs
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad ©, Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul © (wk), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur
Prediction
The Super Kings will be keen to make a comeback after the loss against the Super Giants in the last match, while LSG will be looking to continue their winning momentum against CSK.
The Super Giants had the upper hand in the head-to-head clash, but the Super Kings also held a 71.64% win record at their home ground in Chepauk. So all things considered, both teams would be eager to take on each other, and a great game of cricket will be expected on Tuesday night.