Lucknow Super Giants v Chennai Super Kings: IPL 2022 match preview

The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season

What's the match?

Lucknow Super Giants take on Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

When is it taking place?

The game will be played on Thursday, March 31. The first ball will be bowled at 7.30pm local time (3pm GMT).

Where is the match being played?

The game will be held at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Who's got the form?

Both sides suffered defeats in their opening matches of the 2022 IPL.

New franchise Lucknow Super Giants lost by five wickets against fellow debutants Gujarat Titans, coming within two balls of defending 158.

Middle order duo Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni both scored half-centuries for the Super Giants but their star-studded top four crumbled, scoring just 23 runs between them. Krunal Pandya impressed with the ball, picking up 1 for 17.

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, were restricted to just 131 runs from their 20 overs - MS Dhoni top-scoring with an unbeaten 50 (38). A tidy bowling display took KKR's chase deep into the 19th over but there was little the bowlers could do to defend the low total.

Moeen Ali, who missed CSK's season opener after visa issues delayed his arrival in India, is expected to be available for this match.

^{Moeen Ali is set to return for CSK [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]}

What's the key match-up?

Both sides were let down by their top orders in their opening matches.

Lucknow Super Giants, whose top four features KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis and Manish Pandey, were undone by Mohammad Shami and Varun Aaron inside the powerplay and scored just 23 runs.

CSK lost Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) and Devon Conway (3) inside the powerplay while Ambati Rayudu scored just 15 runs from 17 balls.

Luckily for CSK, the return of Moeen Ali, who scored 357 runs at a strike rate of 137.30 in 2021, is set to return to the XI for this encounter, reuniting three of the team's dynamic top four from last season. And with both Jadeja and a resurgent Dhoni in the middle order, they have reliable depth in case of an another top order wobble.

Lucknow, however, may take a few matches to click as a new franchise and cannot be certain that young Badoni - who scored just eight runs in his only previous T20 innings - can repeat his opening match heroics with the bat.

Head-to-head record 

Matches played: 0

Lucknow Super Giants wins: 0

Chennai Super Kings wins: 0

What's the weather forecast?

Sunny and warm in Mumbai, with temperatures hovering around 28 degrees Celsius at the start of play.

What are the squads?

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood (injured/replaced by Andrew Tye), Avesh Khan, Ankit Rajpoot, K Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav, B Sai Sudharsan

Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma

^{KL Rahul was dismissed for a duck on his Lucknow debut [Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images]}

What are the possible starting XIs?

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Dushmentha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube,Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne, Tushar Deshpande

What are the odds?

Chennai Super Kings are the favourites with odds of 8/11. Lucknow Super Giants are available at 11/9.

What's the prediction?

The return of Moeen Ali is a huge boost to CSK's top order and their overall depth should see them over the line.

Where can I watch the game?

In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.

Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.

Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.

Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.

Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.

The IPL can also be streamed on Disney+ and Hotstar in certain areas.