In a bid to claim their third consecutive victory in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League, Lucknow Super Giants will be clashing against Gujarat Titans. The two teams are all set to play against each other at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday from 07:30 pm onwards.
LSG is having a good season as they grabbed two consecutive wins against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru after losing their season opener. On the other hand, Gujarat Titans are having a mixed ride with two wins and two losses and would be eager to get back to the winning ways on Sunday.
What has happened so far?
Lucknow Super Giants opened their campaign against Rajasthan Royals and ended up on the losing side as RR sealed a 20-run win in Jaipur. Nicholas Pooran then captained the Lucknow-based franchise to a 21-run win against Punjab Kings before KL Rahul returned against his former side Royal Challengers Bengaluru to grab the second consecutive win for the team in Karnataka’s capital city.
Speaking of Gujarat Titans, they have four points to their name from two wins and as many losses. The team is currently in sixth place in the standings. Unlike LSG, GT started their campaign on a winning note as they scored a win by six runs.
It was followed by a defeat against Chennai Super Kings while the team bounced back in the next game to defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets. However, the Titans failed to continue the winning streak and ended up losing their last game to Punjab Kings by three wickets.
Head to Head Record
Gujarat Titans have completely dominated Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL so far. The two teams have played a total of four games and all the matches saw the Titans scoring the win. KL Rahul’s men will be hoping to put an end to this unwanted record on Sunday and add two points under their name.
Key Players
Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants): Nicholas Pooran has shown great intent and consistency for the Lucknow Super Giants in the tournament so far. The vice-captain has done a decent job with the bat and is currently leading the run-scoring chart for his franchise with 146 runs.
It was another brilliant performance by the wicketkeeper-batter during LSG’s last game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The team racked up a score of 181 runs on the scoreboard as Pooran chimed in with an unbeaten knock of 40 runs off 21 balls. The odds are in favor of the middle-order batter shining once again on Sunday.
Mohit Sharma (Gujarat Titans): Mohit Sharma has been a consistent performer for the Gujarat Titans in the 2024 edition of the T20 league so far. The former CSK bowler is topping the wicket-taking charts with seven wickets to his name in four matches at an average of 18.71.
Mohit Sharma is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL 2024 so far
His best performance came against Sunrisers Hyderabad as he took home the Player of the Match award for conceding only 25 runs at an economy rate of 6.2 and picking three wickets. Sharma was also excellent in the fixture against Punjab Kings conceding 20 runs and picking up a wicket in his first three overs but ended up conceding 18 runs in his last overs.
Team News from Both Camps
It is a big shock for Lucknow Super Giants as their seamer Shivam Mavi has been ruled for the entire IPL 2024. The franchise shelled out INR 6.4 crores during the auction to acquire the services of the 25-year old but an injury has forced Mavi to leave the camp.
The Titans are also facing injury woes as their star batter David Miller has been ruled out for two weeks with a niggle and Kane Williamson is expected to fill in as the specialist overseas batter in the playing XI.
Predicted XIs
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul © (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mayank Yadav
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill ©, Sai Sudharsan, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Umesh Yadav, Darshan Nalkande
Prediction
Lucknow Super Giants have picked up good momentum this season and thus their chances of winning the Sunday game are high. The team churned out all-round performances in the last two games, and that must have boosted their confidence.
On the other hand, the Shubman Gill-led side is struggling to maintain consistency as they are yet to win two consecutive games this season after topping the league standings in IPL 2022 and IPL 2023.