Big picture
Sunrisers Hyderabad racked up 286 for 6 in their first game of IPL 2025. All eyes were on them when they came up against Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) inexperienced bowling attack, with 300 being the buzzword. But a death-bowling clinic before the death overs from LSG stopped them in their tracks. Punjab Kings (PBKS), in their first game of the season, posted 243 for 5 - the second-highest total of this year. Now they, too, are up against LSG.
LSG allrounder Shardul Thakur has made repeated calls for pitches that aid bowlers, and he will be happy to play at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, arguably the most bowler-friendly venue in the IPL. However, being at home is not necessarily a good thing for LSG, as they have a fifty-fifty record there. The in-form Nicholas Pooran, despite three seasons with the franchise, does not enjoy playing at this ground, averaging less than 25 and managing a high score of 42 in 14 matches.
New loyalties
In his three years with the franchise, Marcus Stoinis was LSG's third-highest run-scorer. But on Tuesday, he will turn out against his old team, hoping to quickly gain form for his new franchise PBKS, who shelled INR 11 crore for him at the auction.
Fast bowler Yash Thakur is another ex-LSG player in PBKS' ranks. But it is unlikely that he will get to play on Tuesday.
How a simple move has unleashed prime Pooran
Team news and likely XIIs
With PBKS' batting line-up stacked with right-handers, LSG could be tempted to bring in one of their left-arm spinners in Shahbaz Ahmed or M Siddharth in place of Abdul Samad. LSG could also consider swapping Aiden Markram to give his compatriot Matthew Breetzke a chance at the top of the order, but Breetzke's form has also been indifferent, with no half-century in his last ten T20 innings.
Lucknow Super Giants (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Prince Yadav, 11 Avesh Khan, 12 Digvesh Rathi
With the Ekana Cricket Stadium generally favouring spinners, PBKS could think of an additional slower bowler in Harpreet Brar to support Yuzvendra Chahal and Glenn Maxwell. This could mean that Vijaykumar Vyshak, who put on an excellent display of death bowling after coming on as an Impact Player against Gujarat Titans (GT), will have to make room.
Punjab Kings (probable): 1 Priyansh Arya, 2 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Azmatullah Omarzai, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Shashank Singh, 8 Suryansh Shedge, 9 Marco Jansen, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal, 12 Vijaykumar Vyshak/Harpreet Brar
Big question
Vyshak's death bowling ensured GT didn't chase down 244 against PBKS. But he is the only player who can make way for an extra spin option. Will PBKS stick with the seamer who kept GT's left-hand batters quiet with his wide yorkers, especially with the prospect of having to bowl to Nicholas Pooran and Rishabh Pant, or will they go with what conditions dictate?
In the spotlight: Rishabh Pant and Glenn Maxwell
After becoming the most expensive player in IPL history, Rishabh Pant has had a challenging start to his LSG stint. A six-ball duck in his first match followed by a run-a-ball 15 has seen him come under the scanner. Things are unlikely to get easier for him in Lucknow, where the conditions tend to favour the bowlers.
Glenn Maxwell's third stint with PBKS did not get off to the best of starts, as he was out for a golden duck against GT. But he has a good record against Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi, and will be looking to make the most of the favourable match-ups.
Pitch and conditions
The match will be played on a red-soil pitch, which is expected to have a lot of grass covering to keep the seamers interested. The average first-innings score here in T20s since 2023 is 169, so this is not going to be a run-fest.
Stats and trivia
Since the start of 2004, Pooran is the only batter in T20s to score over 500 runs at No. 3 with an average of 45-plus and a strike rate of 160-plus.
Pooran has also hit the most sixes (200) in T20s in that period. His closest competitor is Heinrich Klaasen with 121. Pooran's 49 sixes in the IPL during this time are also the most for any batter.
David Miller is just 36 runs away from 3000 IPL runs.
Next three fixtures
LSG will host Mumbai Indians next, before travelling to Kolkata to take on Kolkata Knight Riders. They then return home to face GT.
After two away games, PBKS will host Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings in Mullanpur in their next two fixtures, before hitting the road again to take on Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Quotes
"I think that compared to other grounds, there will be a little more help for bowlers at the Ekana. It is a big ground and our bowlers have the skills to make use of that. So I think it will be a high-scoring match, but not as high-scoring as you'd get in Hyderabad."
LSG allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed"We have to weigh up what we're going to need the most: whether we're going to need to try and get a little bit of tail with the older ball or whether we're going to need to give our world-class spinner a dry ball to make an impact within the last ten overs of the innings."
PBKS assistant coach James Hopes
