The 44th match of the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be played between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on April 27 (Saturday).
While the hosts are coming into this contest on the back of two consecutive wins, the table-toppers Rajasthan are buyoant after a hat-trick of wins since their solitary loss in the tournament that came against Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 10.
Lucknow seem to be peaking at the right time and have proved that they are not only a team that can defend totals well. In their previous game, the KL Rahul-led side chased down 211 to register the highest successful chase at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The team management backed Marcus Stoinis with the willow in hand and sent him to bat at No. three against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The punt paid off and Stoinis registered the highest individual score in an IPL run chase to help LSG win their fifth game of the season.
On the other hand, Rajasthan are looking as formidable as ever. Their biggest concern of the season seems to have settled down as Yashasvi Jaiswal is back in form and looks eager to make up for the quiet tournament that he has had so far.
Ekana Cricket Stadium Pitch Report
The surface at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow is slow in nature and hence it doesn't witness many high-scoring totals. Spinners enjoy bowling at the venue as the wicket becomes slower as the game progresses and starts gripping.
Ekana Cricket Stadium T20I Record and Stats
Total T20I matches played: 9
Matches won batting first: 5
Matches won bowling first: 4
Average first innings score: 151
Average second innings score: 126
Highest total scored: 199/2 by India vs Sri Lanka
Highest score chased: 159/4 (20 Ovs) by South Africa women vs India women
Lowest total defended: 156/8 by Afghanistan vs West Indies
Lucknow Super Giants squad
Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur, Devdutt Padikkal, Arshin Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Manimaran Siddharth, Arshad Khan, Prerak Mankad, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Shamar Joseph, Ashton Turner, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mayank Yadav
Rajasthan Royals squad
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, Keshav Maharaj, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Kuldeep Sen, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore
