Lucknow Super Giants elected to bowl first in the crucial IPL 2024 game against Chennai Super Kings at Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday. LSG made one major change to their playing eleven with New Zealand pacer Matt Henry replacing Shamar Joseph while CSK dropped star players Shardul Thakur and Daryl Mitchell.
Looking to return to winning ways after successive defeats, the hosts dropped the Caribbean pacer Shamar Joseph in an only change. Henry last played IPL game for Punjab Kings in 2017 and joined Lucknow as David Willey's replacement this season.
"We'll bowl first," KL Rahul said after winning the toss. "Looks like a good wicket, dew hasn;t been a big factor. Hopefully it stays good for 40 overs. We would like to know what we are chasing. There weren't any blunders we made. Last game against KKR was a big defeat. Still pretty relaxed. I know it's halfway mark. As a leadership group, if we panic it spreads. That's not what I like to be. Great support staff. We are trying to keep as relaxed as possible. The pitches have been relaid here. Each time you play, it can be different. Just one change. Joseph is out, Matt Henry comes in."
Chennai, who thrashed Mumbai Indians in the last game, made two surprise changes to their starting eleven today. English spin all-rounder Moeen Ali replaced Kiwi star Daryl Mitchell and pacer Deepak Chahar returned from injury, replacing Shardul Thakur.
"We would have bowled first," Ruturaj Gaikwad said. "We batted first in the last game and batted well. (Win against MI) A good confidence-booster. Going there and defending is a big boost for us. We don't want to get complacent. We are trying to be as consistent as possible. Just a bit lucky (on his batting), unlucky dismissal in the first two matches. Good to be back, good to be going. Everyone is confident. Two changes. Mo comes in for Mitchell, Deepak comes in for Shardul."
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur.
Lucknow Super Giants Impact Subs: Arshin Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Yudhvir Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Arshad Khan.
Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana.
Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Sameer Rizvi, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner.
