LUCKNOW : Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) won the toss and opted to bat against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 11th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday.
After losing their first match of the IPL 2024, the Lucknow-based franchise is currently standing at the bottom of the points table. In their previous game, LSG conceded a 20-run loss.
Meanwhile, Punjab are coming into this game after losing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 4 wickets. They currently stand in the fifth place on the points table.
While speaking at the toss, LSG’s stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran said that they KL Rahul will pla as an ‘impact player’ in the match against Punjab.
“We’ll bat first. Looks like a good track, runs on the board could be vital. KL is coming back from injury and we’re looking to give him a break in such a long tournament, but he’ll play as an impact player today. Everyone must take the opportunitiesand perform at their best,” Pooran said.
On the other hand, PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan said that they wanted to bat first as well since there were dew on the field.
“We would have bowled first, lots of dew when we came to the ground (last night). Our lines cane be tight, while batting, we can’t afford to lose wickets in clusters. It’s still early in the tournament and we’ve spoken about that in the dressing room. We’ll have to make the most of the powerplay. No changes for us,” Dhawan said.
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (Wk), KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran (C), Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth,
Punjab Kings Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (Wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh. (ANI)