Chennai Super Kings will be battling it out against Lucknow Super Giants in the 34th match of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League. The two teams will be playing at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday from 7:30 pm onwards.
Under the leadership of the new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, the Super Kings are enjoying a fine ride and have established themselves as one of the strong contenders for qualifying for the second round. On the other hand, the Super Giants have had a rollercoaster ride as they have struggled to maintain consistency in the tournament.
What has happened so far?
With four wins and two losses from six league matches, Chennai Super Kings are occupying the third place in the points table. After losing two matches in a row against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the franchise has made a fine comeback with two straight wins against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.
After a splendid bowling performance against KKR, CSK marched into the El Clasico of the cash-rich league with confidence and the batters repaid the management’s faith by putting 206 runs on the board and winning the tie by 20 runs.
Lucknow Super Giants are in fifth place in the league standings with three wins and as many losses. After starting the campaign with a defeat against Rajasthan Royals, LSG bounced back with three consecutive wins against Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Gujarat Titans.
The franchise is struggling a bit with two back-to-back losses against Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders. Both games saw a poor performance by the batters as they ended up with only 167 and 161 runs, respectively.
Head to Head Record
Lucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings have faced each other in three games so far in the Indian Premier League. Both the teams won a game each, while the remaining match ended without any result.
Key Players
Mustafizur Rahman has been in sensational form in IPL 2024
Mustafizur Rahman (Chennai Super Kings): Mustafizur Rahman has emerged as the most consistent and successful bowler for the Chennai Super Kings in the 17th season of the cash-rich league.
The Bangladeshi fast bowler is currently the third-highest wicket-taker in the overall wicket-taking list after Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah with 10 wickets to his name from five matches at an average of 18.30.
His best performance so far in the tournament came against RCB in the season opener as he picked up a total of four wickets while conceding 29 runs in four overs at an economy rate of 7.2. The seamer is expected to continue his fine performance on Friday and churn out another great performance.
Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants): Nicholas Pooran is living up to his reputation in the ongoing IPL season as he has delivered some stunning performances for the Lucknow Super Giants. Pooran has featured in all six games and has scored 223 runs above an average of 74.
The wicketkeeper-batter ended up as LSG’s top-highest run-scorer in their last game against the Kolkata Knight Riders when the team managed to score only 161 runs. Batting in the middle order, Pooran added 45 runs to the scoreboard in 32 balls with the help of two boundaries and four maximums.
LSG will be again hoping for the star batter to step up and churn out a good performance so that the team can put an end to its losing streak.
Team News from Both Camps
Chennai Super Kings will have the whole team available for selection for the game against LSG. The franchise looked in a bit of trouble the past few days as Matheesha Pathirana missed a couple of games because of a niggle. However, he made a comeback against the Mumbai Indians and is set to feature against LSG as well.
During CSK’s last match, MS Dhoni was seen limping, which was a cause of worry among the fans. However, the coach confirmed that despite a knee injury, the former skipper will be playing all the games.
There is good news for LSG ahead of the encounter against CSK as Mayank Yadav has recovered from his niggle and is likely to be available for selection. The pacer has emerged as an X-factor for the team and his presence can be a big boost for LSG.