The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will be in action against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2023 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 20. LSG still have their destiny in their own hands and will qualify for the playoffs if they win their final game of the league stage. The team have won seven and lost five of their thirteen games, while the game with CSK was abandoned. They have fifteen points to their name so far.

Last time out, Marcus Stoinis’ power-packed knock of 89*(47), combined with a composed 49(42) from captain Krunal Pandya propelled the home side to a competitive 177/3 after they were reduced to 35/3 inside the first seven overs. Ravi Bishnoi then turned things around with the ball and scalped two wickets in his four overs.

Kyle Mayers has scored 361 runs this season with four half-centuries but missed out in the last game as Navin-ul-Haq was brought in. However, Mayers could return to the XI as the move to open the innings with Quinton de Kock didn’t pay any dividends.

Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis have scored 300 and 368 runs respectively. Ayush Badoni has chipped in with 212 runs so far. De Kock has done well since coming into the team after Rahul’s injury. Krunal Pandya has also chipped in with 171 runs so far.

Deepak Hooda has been in woeful touch this season and has only scored 69 runs in eleven innings and is expected to be replaced in the side by K Gowtham.

LSG have quite a few promising domestic seam bowlers in their squad in the likes of Avesh Khan, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh and Mohsin Khan, all vying for the starting spots in the team.

For a couple of games LSG played with four overseas batters and a domestic bowling attack. But Naveen replaced Mayers in the team for the last game and is expected to retain his place in the team for the game against KKR.

Ravi Bishnoi has picked 14 wickets so far. Avesh Khan and Krunal Pandya have picked up 16 wickets between them. Amit Mishra and Marcus Stoinis have chipped in with 12 wickets between them as well. Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Singh have also chipped in with 11 wickets between them. Mark Wood and Naveen-ul-Haq have picked up 18 wickets between them in 10 games. Amit Mishra is expected to return to the side in place of Swapnil Singh.

LSG’s predicted XI vs KKR:

Openers: Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers

Middle Order: Nicholas Pooran (wk), K Gowtham, Ayush Badoni

All-rounders: Krunal Pandya (c), Marcus Stoinis

Bowlers: Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Ravi Bishnoi

Impact player: Prerak Mankad