[CRK]
Big Picture: Can LSG test the PBKS middle order?
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have gone off the boil after a promising start, slipping into a two-match slide they’ll be desperate to arrest. But the magnitude of that challenge couldn’t be steeper as they take on table-toppers Punjab Kings, who are yet to drop a game.
LSG’S dip is best captured in their batting returns. Mukul Choudhary’s 127 runs lead their run charts and 54 of those came in a match-winning effort against Kolkata Knight Riders. This underlines their batting struggles: LSG are the slowest-scoring side in the tournament (run rate 8.1), in stark contrast to PBKS, who are second-best (10.9).
Form Guide
Punjab Kings WWWW (last four completed matches, most recent first)
Lucknow Super Giants LLWW
Key Question
Can LSG’s batting lift to challenge the PBKS middle order and turn around their lacklustre start?
Team News
PBKS have a fully fit squad to choose from. They are unlikely to tinker with a combination that has delivered four wins.
Punjab Kings (starting XII): 1 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 2 Priyansh Arya, 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Vijaykumar Vyshak, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal, 12 Nehal Wadhera
With Pant fit and available, LSG are unlikely to make changes to their combination. But Abdul Samad has struggled for form and rhythm, so there’s a case for LSG to bring in Akshat Raghuwanshi, the MP batter.
Lucknow Super Giants (starting XII): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Rishabh Pant (capt), 4 Ayush Badoni, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Mukul Choudhary, 8 George Linde, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Prince Yadav, 12 Mayank Yadav/Digvesh Rathi
In the spotlight
After going wicketless in his first three games, while also conceding at 9.9, Arshdeep Singh bounced back superbly to dismiss Ryan Rickelton and Suryakumar Yadav off consecutive deliveries against MI. Tom Moody, LSG’s global director, was blunt in his assessment of Abdul Samad. He felt Samad was no longer a “youngster” and, after six IPL seasons, should be delivering more even accounting for the demands of a finisher’s role.
Stats and trivia
- Five games in, the PBKS opening pair of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh averages 48.5. LSG are the only team without a half-century opening stand so far.
- Arya’s eight sixes are the second-best by a batter off his first 10 balls at IPL 2026. Rajat Patidar leads the race with 13 sixes.
- LSG’s overall batting average of 19.8 is the lowest among all 10 teams this season.
- Nicholas Pooran’s strike rate of 76 this IPL is the lowest among batters to have faced at least 50 balls.
Pitch and conditions
The match will be played on a surface that hasn’t been used in any of the 13 previous games in New Chandigarh. But the neighbouring surfaces on which the playoffs were played last year played the polar opposites. PBKS were bundled out for 101 against RCB in Qualifier 1, while Mumbai Indians made 228 to beat Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator. Weather-wise, conditions are expected to be hot and dry, with a high of 37 degrees Celsius. Dew could be a factor.
