Navi Mumbai: The elegance of KL Rahul and the flamboyance of Quinton de Kock will compete against the finishing skills of Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell when Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the IPL here on Tuesday.
LSG and RCB enter the game after victories over Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals respectively and both teams, who have eight points from six matches, are eager to continue their winning streak.
Against the second-placed Super Giants, RCB will have to tackle their problems of the highest order. While skipper Faf du Plessis has been unable to fire since the opening match, opener Anuj Rawat looked itch.
Virat Kohli continues to have a frustrating season. Despite looking in good shape, the former RCB captain has failed to take the big points.
However, the arrival of Maxwell has strengthened the team. The Australian all-rounder shot 55 of 34 balls to get the momentum going in the chase against DC.
Meanwhile, Karthik enjoys his role as a finisher and single-handedly wins matches for his new squad.
The seasoned wicketkeeper’s batter has not put a foot wrong in the current season, taking some of the best hits as he looks to make a comeback for the national team. He has been instrumental in RCB’s rise to the top four of the league table.
Engineer-turned cricketer Shahbaz Ahmed has also impressed with his percussion so far.
On the bowling front, Josh Hazlewood cast an exceptional spell against DC that turned the match in RCB’s favor and the Australian pacemaker would happily continue in the same vein.
In addition to Hazlewood, Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga will be key in stopping Rahul and Co, while death overs specialist Harshal Patel will also have to play his part to perfection if RCB is to include a powerful LSG batting unit .
On the other hand, Rahul (235 runs) led the newcomers admirably. The skipper herself is in superb shape. He registered his first century of the season against Mumbai and is only behind Jos Buttler of Rajasthan Royals (272 runs) in the leading chart.
LSG also has plenty of firepower in the Kock, who has shown imperious form in recent matches, the young Ayush Badoni, the big hit Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya to name a few.
The newcomers have been further bolstered by the addition of multi-talented duo Jason Holder and Marcus Stoinis. The two add more depth in both bowling and batting.
The pace-spin duo of Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi have managed to hold their own against some of the most established names in T20 cricket.
Teams (of):
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Manan Vohra, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Quinton De Kock, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Shelfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff Suyash Prabhudesai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Rajat Patidar, Siddharth Kaul.
Match starts at 7:30 PM.
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