IPL 2022: Match 66 – Predicted Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have eight wins in 13 league matches and are at the third position in the IPL 2022 points table. They will have to win this game to confirm their qualification for the playoffs and most importantly book their place in the top two spots, which can give them an advantage. In their last league match, Giants lost to Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 24 runs.

It was an average outing for the bowlers, who conceded 178 runs. Although it was a chaseable score, the team could not accelerate in crunch moments. In their next league game, they will be up against the challenge of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 18 at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai. In this league match, the team might bring in Manish Pandey in place of out-of-form Ayush Badoni.

Here’s a look at the Lucknow Super Giants predicted playing XI against KKR:

Openers: KL Rahul (c) and Quinton de Kock (wk)

One of the most solid opening pairs in the tournament has been unable to do well in the last few matches, which has kept LSG at bay to have a strong start in the powerplay overs. Their partnership could last only 15 runs in the last league fixture.

Although captain KL Rahul has scored 469 runs in 13 innings, he has been out of form on most occasions in the second half of the ongoing season. His recent three scores are read as 10, 8, and 0, which depicts his inconsistency in the last few games. In this crucial fixture, he would look to get back to form and help the team to seal the playoffs spot.

On the other hand, Quinton de Kock has garnered a total of 68 runs in the last three games and the team would expect him to perform much better going forward. He is undergoing a quiet season with an average of 27.84 and would look to make a turnaround in this game.

Middle Order: Marcus Stoinis and Manish Pandey

The core batters in the middle order have been inconsistent for the Super Giants. The team tried out Karan Sharma in one of the fixtures, but he failed and was then dropped. Another youngster Ayush Badoni has not displayed proficiency with the bat in the last few games and he also got out for a duck in the last fixture, Manish Pandey might replace him in this fixture.

Pandey, who is an experienced campaigner can turn out to be a valuable player for the team in this game, which can be an entry gate for them to the playoffs. Although he has only 88 runs in six appearances, he would look to perform well, if given an opportunity.

The Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has returned with knocks of 27, 2, and 28 in the recent three games and will certainly be confident leading up to this game.

All-rounders: Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya and Jason Holder

The most important department of the team has contributed consistently for the team and will serve as the key players in this fixture as well. Coming at number three, Hooda has 406 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 133.55. In the last game, he scored 59 off 39 balls and is in sublime touch.

Krunal Pandya has scored 183 runs and has taken nine wickets in the tournament so far. In the last league fixture, he scored 25 off 23 balls and returned wicket-less in his two overs.

The Caribbean all-rounder Jason Holder has been impressive with his contributions and has picked up a total of 14 wickets and has scored 58 runs. In the last league match, he took a single wicket and gave away 12 runs in two overs.

Bowlers: Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera and Avesh Khan

Overall, the bowlers have done well in the tournament but were average in the last league match as they conceded close to 180 runs. The left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan went for 43 in four overs, which was his worst performance so far this season and would look to come up with better variations in this match.

The spinner Ravi Bishnoi returned to the Playing XI in the last outing and finished with figures of 2/31 in four overs. The Lanka pacer Dushmantha Chameera was struck for 35 in three overs and will be on the lookout to replicate his past performances.

On the other hand, Avesh Khan took a single wicket and gave away 20 runs. So far, he has 17 wickets in 11 appearances and is the team’s leading wicket-taker. In this fixture, the pacer will serve as the biggest hope for the team management to take wickets in a consistent manner.

LSG’s predicted playing XI for the KKR clash: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (c), Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Manish Pandey, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan.