The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season.
Lucknow Super Giants take on Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.
The match will be played Sunday, May 15 with play starting at 7.30pm local time (3pm GMT).
The teams will face off at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
Lucknow Super Giants – despite a comprehensive defeat to leaders Gujarat Titans in their last game – are all but qualified, sitting second on 16 points and on a healthy net run rate.
A few matches ago, most would have put the Royals in the same bracket, but three defeats in four has put a large question mark next to their name.
In spite of this blip, the inconsistency of those below them mean that victory here, or in their last group game, will confirm their place in the play-offs with GT and LSG.
LSG’s strength also lies in their bowling – Dushmantha Chameera has had an excellent IPL campaign, and together with Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, and Ravi Bishnoi, form a formidable bowling attack that matched up nicely with the Royals’ power hitters.
Both teams were thrashed in their last matches – LSG after being bowled out for 82 against Gujarat, and Rajasthan after a Mitch Marsh masterclass against the Delhi Capitals – and will be looking for revenge in this one.
Jason Holder (BCCI)
Jos Buttler is the glue of the Royals batting lineup, and while it is now unlikely that he will break Virat Kohli's record-setting 973-run season in IPL 2016, he needs more help if his side are to qualify. Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal are key and will be coming up against an in-form Pandya.
KL Rahul has scored two hundreds and been out for two ducks this season so the battle with Trent Boult battle will be key to this one. Lucknow’s hitting at the death has stuttered this season and Yuzvendra Chahal will be confident he can keep the runs down in the LSG innings.
Matches played: 1
Lucknow Super Giants wins: 0
Rajasthan Royals wins: 1
A warm day is expected in Mumbai, with highs of 33 degrees Celsius, falling to 29 degrees by first ball of the match.
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
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rassie van der Dussen, Karun Nair, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Dhruv Jurel, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Anunay Singh, Riyan Parag, Nathan Coulter Nile, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwa, Tejas Baroka, Kuldeep Sen, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin
Jos Buttler (Getty Images)
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Kuldeep Sen, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
The bookies make Lucknow Super Giants favourites for this match at 4/5. RR are 11/10 to win.
The reverse fixture between these two was a close affair, with an inspired Royals bowling attack taking them to a three-run victory. If Boult and Chahal perform as well as they did then, the Royals will be favourites. Without Buttler’s runs though, LSG will feel confident they can keep the runs down for KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock to chase.
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.
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