The 42nd game of the Indian T20 league 2022 shall see Lucknow take on Punjab. Both teams managed to win their previous encounter and thus, would be confident of doing good on Friday as well. While the KL Rahul-led side beat Mumbai by 36 runs, the Mayank Agarwal-led side had defeated Chennai in an absolute thriller.
The Lucknow-based franchise have won five out of their eight games so far in the 2022 edition. As for the 2014-finalists, they have managed to win four out of their eight games. A loss over here and things might start to get harder for Punjab. As the race to the playoffs has already begun, the Punjab-based franchise can't afford to lose too many games. Having said that, it isn't going to be easy as Lucknow have been playing some superb cricket of late.
Their captain KL Rahul has led from the front as he has already scored 368 runs in this edition. They are slowly starting to deliver as a unit, and boast of some superb match-winners. However, it is to be noted that the captains on either side are childhood friends. As Agarwal and Rahul know each other very well, the fans could be in for an entertaining game.
To make matters more interesting, the 30-year-old was with Punjab for four editions. This might ignite some spice to the match. Besides, Lucknow have a golden opportunity to become the third team in the 2022 edition to get to 12 points. Thus, this game promises to be an absolute cracker of a contest.
Pitch Conditions:
This match is all set to take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune. This will be Lucknow's first game at this stadium. The team batting first has won four out of the seven games played over here in this edition. However, both teams would want to bowl first after winning the toss, as it will help them to get a better idea of the pitch conditions.
Probable XIs:
Lucknow:
If fit, Avesh Khan could return to the XI. Other than that, Lucknow wouldn't want to change a winning combination.
Predicted Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock (wk), Lokesh Rahul (c), Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan/Avesh Khan
Punjab:
Punjab have seemed to finally got their winning combination as they were clinical during their win over Chennai. Hence, they are expected field the same XI.
Predicted Playing XI:
Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh
Match Details:
Indian T20 League 2022 Punjab vs Lucknow Match 42
Date: Friday, April 29, 7:30 IST
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar