Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, Pune
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 173
Win percentage while batting first: 70%
Pitch conditions:
- The team batting first on Sunday night at the MCA Stadium in Pune will look to score heavily since chasing teams have lost the last 4 matches here.
- If their batsmen get in, both Lucknow and Kolkata are capable of putting up big scores which makes this contest a promising watch.
- Fast bowlers have dominated with 70.59% of the wickets here in the tournament while the spinners have got only 29.41%.
Weather prediction:
The temperature will be at a high of 39°C during the daytime in Pune on Saturday, with the mercury dropping down to 28-31°C in the match hours. The humidity levels will range between 55-65%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: -
Lucknow won: -
Kolkata won: -
No result: -
Top 3 players from Lucknow: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda
Top 3 players from Kolkata: Shreyas Iyer, Umesh Yadav, Nitish Rana
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Lucknow: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Mohsin Khan, Krunal Pandya
Top 5 players from Kolkata: Shreyas Iyer, Umesh Yadav, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine
Q & A:
Fantasy tips and tricks: Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The match will be played at a venue which is meant for batting first, putting big total on the board and enjoying the scoreboard pressure on the opposition. In the last 5 matches played here at the MCA Stadium in Pune, teams batting first have won 4 matches that too on the trot — which implies that the coin toss will have an important role to play in the contest between Lucknow and Kolkata. For this match, which will be played at a batting-friendly pitch, it will be a no-brainer to stack the team with in-form batsmen and particularly those who can hit long and hard. Also, it will be wise to have more seam or pace bowling options because fast bowlers have taken more than 70% of the wickets here.
Fantasy tips: From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
In the contest between one of the two new teams in the tournament, Lucknow and the two-time title winners Kolkata, the KL Rahul-led side is miles ahead of the team captained by Shreyas Iyer in the purple colours. Lucknow have been a little more consistent in their performances than they were in the initial matches, and they are currently placed 2nd in the points table. On the other hand, Kolkata have recently ended their five-match losing streak in the tournament with a win over Rajasthan in their last outing, and it will take some doing for them to move up from the 8th spot in the points table and be considered among the top teams. For this contest to be played on Saturday afternoon, Lucknow are the stronger side and should have more players featuring in the fantasy cricket XI.
MORE INFORMATION: Kolkata and Lucknow will face-off in their first-ever clash in the history of the Indian T20 Cricket League competition, which means that the two teams will be taking the field with a clean slate and no baggage from the past as far as bilateral meetings are concerned. For Lucknow, it will be important to keep putting emphasis on the basics and keep sending out the right combinations of players, while for Kolkata, it is a desperate situation wherein they need many wins on the trot in order to move into the top 4 of the competition. They were impressive in all departments against Rajasthan, but consistency will be the key for a team which has struggled with it this season.
PLAYERS’ FORM: For Lucknow, a lot depends on the kind of starts they get from their opening pair of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, and how long their captain remains in the middle. KL Rahul’s consistency and domination with the bat in this edition will certainly inspire his peers, which includes Kolkata’s Shreyas Iyer who has been their best batsman amid the ruins this season. Lucknow have the dependable Deepak Hooda doing a great job in the middle-order whereas in the Kolkata camp, the same will be expected from the left-handed Nitish Rana. Mohsin Khan has established himself as a natural selection in the Gujarat side, whereas Kolkata will hope that the likes of Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee continue to strike with the new ball.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
LUCKNOW: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (capt), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi.
KOLKATA: Baba Indrajith (wk), Aaron Finch, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi.
FANTASY XI: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer (vc), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Mohsin Khan.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
Read All Articles >
