LUCKNOW: Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to field against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match here at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
The Royals beat LSG by 20 runs in their first match of the season in their opener last month. Rajasthan Royals will look to remain unbeaten against the Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024 and continue their reign at the top of the points table, having seven wins and one loss from eight games. While LSG are fourth on the table with five wins and three losses and a big win could even see Lucknow overtake third-placed SRH in the standings.
Speaking at the time of toss, RR captain Samson said, “We will bowl first. Looks like a decent wicket to bowl, but no guarantees. This season has been a bit different, some extra days in between games, that gives us time to rest and recover. We’re playing the same team. IPL has been completely different, it’s normal to get carried away looking at other teams, but the talk in our camp is to stay with the flow, we have been playing some good cricket and we need to continue doing so. I don’t need to talk to him, he’s been a top professional and has a big role in our plans (on R Ashwin).”
LSG skipper KL Rahul said, “The wicket is good, there’s not much dew in Lucknow and the wicket will play well for the entire 40 overs. We’ll need to play some good cricket. It’s nice to get past 200, every team would like to do so, but the dimensions of this ground favours the bowlers a bit more and we’ve enjoyed it. No changes for us. Every player goes through a bit of time like that when you can’t get runs ( asked about Padikkal’s form). He looks good in the nets and he’ll have to stay positive, you saw last night when Jonny came back after getting dropped and then getting a hundred.”
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan and Yash Thakur. (ANI)