Lucknow Super Giants take on Punjab Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The KL Rahul-led side has won its last two games, and another win on Saturday will take it to the top spot in the IPL standing. While skipper Rahul has struggled with his strike-rate so far, the Super Giants have found new heroes to take the team home. If Krunal Pandya produced an all-round show against Sunrisers Hyderabad, West Indian Nicholas Pooran's breath-taking 19-ball 62 helped them to chase down a difficult 212 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last match.
LSG has a balanced batting line-up with opener Kyle Mayers producing the goods in the first two matches, while the lower middle order comprising Marcus Stoinis, Pooran and Ayush Badoni has shown the other day they can win crunch games.
However, Deepak Hooda has failed so far.
Losing three wickets in powerplay almost jeopardised their chase against RCB and LSG will hope it was just an aberration.
Among bowlers, they have a good mix of pace and spin. While Mark Wood and Avesh Khan have looked good, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, veteran leggie Amit Mishra and Krunal Pandya have also shone in their respective roles.
Kyle Mayers has met with back-to-back failures but LSG are still expected to back him. This means Quinton de Kock is likely to continue to warm the bench.
Lucknow Super Giants Predicted XI vs Punjab Kings
KL Rahul (c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Jaydev Unadkat, Avesh Khan, Mark Wood, Ravi Bishnoi
(With PTI Inputs)