What sort of Ekana track will greet high-flying KKR

Matt Waldron strikes out 10 as Padres silence Braves bats in 3-1 win

Match details

Lucknow Super Giants (3rd; W6 L4) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2nd; W7 L3) Lucknow, 19.30 IST (14.00 GMT)

Big picture

Fifty-plus games in, no team has qualified for the playoffs yet. Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants, sitting at No. 2 and No. 3 on the table at the moment, can still miss out on qualification. Neither team will want to get caught up in the mid-table muddle, and two points here could go a long way in sparing them that.

KKR's big-hitters, who are coming into this game on the back of two wins, will be heading into unfamiliar territory. They've never played an IPL game in Lucknow. The pitches at the venue have also not been too predictable. But spin has played an important role in most games here, which KKR will be pleased with given how well their spin pair of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine have performed thus far. During their previous meeting this season at Eden Gardens, the LSG batters were stifled by the duo in the middle.

LSG have also not cracked the pitches at Ekana so far. They put up 196 on what looked like a good batting pitch against Rajasthan Royals and went down by seven wickets, while they chased down 145 on a sluggish pitch with four balls to spare in the match against MI. So it will once again come down to what pitch they will serve up on Sunday - red, black, or mixed soils. LSG have been hurt by injuries all season: their X-factor bowler Mayank Yadav is now all but ruled out of the tournament, while their opener Quinton de Kock had missed the last game after hurting his hand. In an attempt to qualify for the playoffs, the hosts will be trying to add some consistency to their starting line-up and their results.

Form guide

LSG WLWWL (last five matches, most recent first)KKR WWLWL

Previous meeting

Phil Salt (47-ball 89) and Mitchell Starc (3 for 28) helped the hosts thump LSG by eight wickets. LSG could post only 161 for 7 after they were put in, which was then chased down by the hosts in 15.4 overs.

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Lucknow Super Giants

LSG had middle-order batter Ashton Turner in their side in the last match in de Kock's absence, and Arshin Kulkarni was brought in as the Impact Player to open with KL Rahul. LSG coach Justin Langer said that de Kock "should be ready to play the next game or so". With Mayank out, LSG are likely to bring back Yash Thakur or Amit Mishra.

Probable XII: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Arshin Kulkarni, 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Mohsin Khan 12 Amit Mishra/ Yash Thakur

Kolkata Knight Riders

Harshit Rana will be back having served his one-match disciplinary ban. Manish Pandey was brought in as the Impact Player for Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the first innings during their match against MI after a batting collapse. He played a crucial knock of 42 to rebuild the innings along with Venkatesh Iyer. KKR will likely go the same route in case they need an extra batting hand.

Probable XII: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Manish Pandey, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Harshit Rana, 12 Varun Chakaravarthy

In the spotlight

Marcus Stoinis has returned to form at the right time for LSG. After a brilliant solo effort against Chennai Super Kings, he bagged a duck against RR - a match which LSG lost - and then came back with another match-winning effort of 62 against MI on a slow wicket. LSG have also finally found the right position for him at No. 3, where he's made those big scores. His good form has also taken the pressure off Nicholas Pooran to make up for the lack of runs from the top order. His medium pace has also come in handy - he's dismissed the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav in the last two games.

A fifty against RCB aside, captain Shreyas Iyer is yet to make a significant impact with the bat in KKR's good run this season. He has 257 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 137.43 and comes into the games with scores of 6, 33* and 28 in the last three games. He has got a few good starts but hasn't been able to convert, and that's not hurt KKR much only because of the contributions from the rest of the line-up. In the reverse fixture, he hit a run-a-ball 38 when Salt at the other end was hitting at a strike rate of nearly 190.

Pitch and conditions

While the pitch during LSG's fixture against RR was batting-friendly, the one laid out against MI was on the slower side. Given KKR have a strong spin attack, the home side will not want to give away any advantage in that department. The average first-innings score at the venue since IPL 2023 has been 160.

Stats that matterKL Rahul's strike rate in the powerplay has improved from 119 in the last season to 140 this season. This season, he has also batted through the powerplay 70% of the time.KKR bowlers' economy rate in the powerplay is 9.8, which is the worst among all teams this season. LSG bowlers, meanwhile, have conceded only at 8.2 in this phase.How do you stop Stoinis? Call Varun or Russell. Stoinis has been dismissed by Varun and Russell two times each in four meetings respectively. Stoinis also strikes only at 60 against Varun.Quotes

"I think he's really enjoying the elevation to No. 3 where he can take responsibility. When he opened the bowling the other day, he takes responsibility and I think that's what happens with all the best players. They want to stand up and take responsibility under pressure and he's doing that very well. He helps lead that energy, that warrior energy where you walk out in the middle and you're just ready for the contest."Justin Langer on Marcus Stoinis' impact