Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) registered their second win in three matches in their IPL 2023 campaign after emerging victorious against Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in the last game. The KL Rahul-led side will head to the city of Bengaluru where they will be up against Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The two sides will square off at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, April 10 in match 15 of the lucrative T20 league. Speaking about their head-to-head records, the Bangalore-based franchise has won both their matches thus far against LSG and the latter will look to deny a third win.
RCB have endured a mixed start to their campaign considering that they emerged victorious against five-time winners Mumbai Indians and lost to Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. An exciting clash is on the cards as a high-scoring affair can be expected taking into account their terrific batting unit.
Here’s Lucknow Super Giants’ predicted XI against Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Openers: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk)
KL Rahul. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
KL Rahul could likely open with his regular partner Quinton de Kock in the upcoming clash against RCB. The skipper got 35 runs off 31 balls with just four boundaries to his name against SRH. The batter will need to up his game and convert it into big scores to lay a solid foundation.
Keeper-batter Quinton de Kock will likely replace the 30-year-old Barbados batter, Kyle Mayers as the opener if he features in XI. The southpaw will aim to swiftly hit the ground running in the upcoming game. Moreover, he is known to adapt to situations quickly and play knocks as per the demands of the game. Therefore, LSG will have a boost in the top-order with both Mayers and Quinton in the batting order.
Middle Order: Nicholas Pooran, Kyle Mayers
Kyle Mayers. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
Assuming that the Proteas keeper gets the green signal to feature in the XI against RCB, Kyle Mayers is likely to come in the middle-order. The Caribbean lad has been highly impressive thus far as he has not only been impactful with the bat but also taken off the pressure from bowlers to restrict runs with the ball. The shorter boundary dimensions at the venue in Bengaluru will be of use to the batter and he will look to dispatch the ball on number of occasions against RCB.
Nicholas Pooran played mere six balls in the last match but smacked the ball sweetly for a boundary and a maximum to get 11 runs and remained unbeaten. Pooran has the potential to get big runs coming in the middle order to help the side attain humongous totals in the innings.
All-rounders: Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya
Krunal Pandya. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
Deepak Hooda’s destructive best with the bat is yet to be witnessed. However, LSG will back him to continue in the XI and get into his element quick and get the required runs coming down the order. He could also bowl a few overs to mix up the bowling attack.
Krunal Pandya relished a brilliant outing against Hyderabad in the last outing. He was adjudged Player of the Match for his 23-ball 34 coupled with three wickets for 18 runs in his four overs. With the momentum at his end, Krunal will look to continue playing such innings both with the bat and ball.
Bowlers: Amit Mishra, Mark Wood, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat
Mark wood. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
LSG have varied options in the bowling unit to choose from, which is one of their strengths in the line-up. Apart from the regular bowlers, the all-rounders too can pitch in and take up a few overs to shoulder the responsibility of getting the breakthroughs.
Spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Amit Mishra got three wickets between them in the previous outing against SRH and were quite effective in terms of keeping their economy rate in check. Bishnoi concluded with an economy of 4.00 whereas veteran leggie Amit returned a 5.80 economy in his four overs.
Mark Wood could make his way back into the XI after missing out on the previous game as he was down with a flu. The English ace pacer has proven to be quite lethal with the ball and will look to dent the RCB line-up in the forthcoming encounter.
Jaydev Unadkat has the experience of playing at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and will look to make the most of it as he faces his former team on Monday. Furthermore, he was in sensational form for Saurashtra, steering the side to win the Ranji Trophy with his impeccable bowling. He will aim to have a similar sort of an impact for LSG in the tournament.
Yash Thakur has faired well thus far in the competition but will need to keep his economy in check against RCB’s top-order. While the rival side will look to target him, Thakur will be raring to add wickets and get his side ahead in the contest.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) probable Playing XI:
KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Krunal Pandya, Amit Mishra, Mark Wood, Yash Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Bishnoi
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Probable impact players:
Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Prerak Mankad, Manan Vohra, Mayank Yadav