Follow UsBoth Lucknow and Chennai have started the tournament on the worst foot possible. So, on Thursday, they would be eager to turn their fortunes around in Mumbai at the Brabourne Stadium. For Chennai, it was the veteran MS Dhoni, who saved the team from batting blushes with a tailored half-century. On the other hand, for Lucknow, it was the partnership between youngster Ayush Badoni and Deepak Hooda, which gave them a total that they almost defended.
Availability of overseas players
While Moeen Ali and Dwaine Pretorius has returned, to make it full foreign pack for the Super Kings, Lucknow still will be without the services of Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers and Marcus Stoinis. Stoinis isn’t expected to arrive in the country before April 6 but with regards to Holder and Mayers, the reports have suggested that the pair have landed in Mumbai but will have to wait their quarantine period through.
Ground Details
Thus far, there has been just the one IPL game this season at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. But from what we have seen in that encounter, the game between LSG-CSK could very well be another high-scoring encounter, with some support for the spinners. The average winning score at the venue in T20s has been 194, which suggests that it could be a good batting track.
Like most venues in Mumbai, Brabourne is another venue which will be favourable to the seamers, with some assistance for the spinners too. But predominantly, the seamers have picked up 93 wickets while the spinners have accounted for 32 wickets, averaging 31.6. The spinners traditionally at the venue have conceded fewer runs than pacers, at an ER of just 7.9 in comparison to the 9 for the pacers.
Only twice has the 200-run mark been breached at the venue, once in 2010 and then in 2015, with Rajasthan Royals on the receiving end of the damage both times. While in the recent past, the venue has been a high-scoring one, it would require some great batting efforts to breach the 200-run mark.
Team Suggestion
Captain Selection
Moeen Ali, you would have definitely heard the name and have seen his game as well. He’s back. And so, will be CSK if he starts firing in the clash against LSG. Now, you may ask why? Not only does Ali bat at No.3, where he smashes runs, he is more than a handy off-spinner, which might come into play looking at the left-handed dominant Super Giants. Expect Jadeja to use the off-spinning all-rounder early on against Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis, considering their weakness against the ball turning away.
Criclytics predicts Ali to score between 22-32 runs in the clash and pick 1-2 wickets against LSG
X-Factors
Robin Uthappa showed glimpse of what he still has to offer for the franchise last season, in his cameos against both Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders. He started this season too in similar fashion, scoring 28 off 21 balls, where he found the boundary twice and cleared it as many times against the Knight Riders. If not for the sensational piece of work from Sheldon Jackson behind the sticks, Uthappa could have very well made a difference.
Criclytics predicts Uthappa to score between 29-43 runs in the clash against LSG
Enough about CSK, let’s talk about LSG, their skipper KL Rahul, for the first time in a long time has registered a duck in the IPL as an opener. That definitely isn’t the most comforting thing to hear but the fact that Rahul averages 52.14 against the Men in Yellow, at a strike-rate of 149.6, can very well make him an X-factor for the clash.
Criclytics predicts Rahul to score between 18-26 runs in the clash against CSK
Here are the top-10 picks as per Criclytics projected points
Probable XIs
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne, Tushar Deshpande
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c, wk), Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ankit Rajpoot, Dushmanta Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi