NEW DELHI: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper K L Rahul won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 64th clash of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
LSG and DC are in turmoil as they prepare for their final chance to breach the requirements to feature in the IPL playoffs. Both teams will be applying permutations and combinations to figure out their chances of featuring in the final four stages of the competition.
The Rishabh Pant-led DC are in sixth spot with 12 points and have just one game left in their group stage campaign. If they walk away with two points at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday, they will end the group stage with 14 points and the manner of their victory will affect their negative net run rate of 0.482.
LSG are in the seventh spot with 12 points and have two matches remaining in the group stage. If they can turn around their form and bounce back from two successive defeats with two consecutive victories, they will end the group stage with 16 points.
With 16 points, LSG could make the cut for the final four but their net run rate will play a crucial role in deciding their fate. If LSG makes it to the playoffs, it will mark the third consecutive season, which will see the LSG feature in the knockout stage of the cash-rich league.
“We will bowl first. It is because of how our team is placed and what will help our team. We are a young bowling attack and get them into the game early, we have experienced batters and they can take the pressure. It is pretty clear for us, that we have to win both games. In the last two games, we have not been up to the mark and have been blasted out of the game. The bowlers have to be brave, as a bowling unit you might fear using change ups but they have to do just back themselves. A couple of changes,” Rahul said after winning the toss.
DC skipper Rishabh Pant said if they have won the toss he would have elected to bat first which they are doing eventually.
“We would have batted first. There are a lot of things going on (regarding qualification) but you can only focus on winning the game. If we had not lost too many wickets we would have won that game, but easier to say that from sitting out. That is a concern throughout the season but as a captain, you can ask the players to give their best and they are doing that. We have two changes – myself and Naib come in, Warner misses out,” Pant said.
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): K L Rahul (wk/c), Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshad Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan.
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Abishek Porel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Gulbadin Naib, Rasikh Dar Salam, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed. (ANI)