LSG, DC aim for consistency as playoff race heats up

Lucknow Super Giants are not really the most convincing side in the tournament. But they still stand at the third position on the points table with six wins from nine games. That tells you something more intrinsic about this year’s Indian Premier League and probably a crystal clear example of how dilution has impacted the quality of the tournament. It is the bedrock on which how the likes of Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals have scampered ahead of the chasing pack to establish a niche of their own.

On Friday, after being asked to bat first by Punjab Kings, the KL Rahul-led side could muster only 153 runs in 20 overs. That only two of their top-six batters could reach the double-figure mark yet they came out triumphant by a margin of 15 runs was a story in itself. Lucknow Super Giants would know they could hardly play along if they wish to make substantial inroads, keeping an early play-offs spot in mind. It would allow some sort of momentum to build with only five games remaining for them in the league stage.

Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, are tottering with four wins and as many losses as to find themselves in the middle of the table. Most of their success was down to how their opening pair performed but if the KKR game was anything to go by, scratchiness is the name of their campaign. The Super Sunday encounter at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will be a chance for both teams to leave everything behind and form different identities going forward.

Delhi’s contrasting powerplay concerns

In the form of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw, Delhi Capitals have a pair who have done well to set up a solid base for the side to latch onto. The duo have complimented each other well, with Shaw donning the aggressor role whereas Warner ensures he would ace the perfect anchor role to perfection. In turn, it has helped their fragile middle-order to maintain the semblance of hope at a time things could have really gone haywire.

However, the same can’t be said for their bowlers. Picking wickets in the first six overs of the innings has been a tough job for the Rishabh Pant-led side. They have picked up just 10 wickets which is the least amongst all teams. The main culprit of this struggle has been Shardul who has got only 1 wicket for 105 runs in the entire competition so far. The struggle in the powerplay, despite Mustafizur Rahman and Khaleel Ahmed doing well in the tournament, left the side with a lot more introspection to do. 

LSG’s over-dependence on openers

Lucknow Super Giants’ main contribution in the tournament has come from their opening batters - KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, who are the only two batters to have scored over 250 runs this season. Rahul has scored over one-fourth of the runs LSG have scored this season while de Kock has accounted for nearly 19% of his team’s runs. Barring the two, only Deepak Hooda has scored over 10% of the team's runs this season.

Lucknow openers have scored over 44% of the team’s runs, which is only second to Rajasthan Royals, whose openers have accounted for 45.4% of their team’s runs, largely because of Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler, who is just a run short of 500 runs for the season. The overdependence on the openers might come to haunt them as it did in the three games they lost this season. Even though they bat deep, with a certain Jason Holder set to come out to bat at the No.7 position, clarity from the middle-order would help. 

Hooda’s impact at No.3 augurs well for LSG

One of the areas where Lucknow lack is figuring out a proper No.3 batter for the side, who have managed to average just over 13 runs per match - the second-lowest for a team’s No.3 batter in this tournament. Only Delhi Capitals’ No.3 batters have been worse in terms of average, SR, and balls/wicket than their Lucknow counterpart. 

LSG had Manish Pandey and Evin Lewis play at No.3 on seven occasions and both of them have never got going. Pandey has got an average of just 18 and SR of 109 at that position while Lewis has managed to score just 16 runs in three innings, at an average of 5.3 and an SR of less than 60. In such a situation, can there be a look at Deepak Hooda as the permanent No.3 of the side for the matches going forward?

Against Punjab, Lucknow tried Deepak Hooda at number 3 and he steadied the ship by scoring 34 runs off 28 balls. In fact, whenever Hooda has walked out to bat in the first 5 overs, he has scored his runs at an average of over 40 and SR of over 130 and has hit two fifties in that phase. If the returns and his current form have anything to go by, then there surely is an option to look at him for a constant role to ensure some pressure was taken off Rahul and de Kock’s shoulders.

Probable XIs:

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (c), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Lalit Yadav, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Date and Time: May 01, 2022 (3:00 PM IST)