IPL 2023: Predicted playing XIs for LSG vs PBKS

Lucknow Super Giants are all set to take on Punjab Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium for match number 21 of IPL 2023. LSG will be looking to register their third consecutive victory of the season. While PBKS are coming after back-to-back losses against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans respectively and will be looking to find their winning momentum back in the tournament.

PBKS started off the season well with back-to-back wins against Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals respectively. After that, they lost their winning momentum against SRH and GT. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan played a pivotal role in PBKS’ batting order in three out of four matches played so far and currently is the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 233 runs. He gave a good start to PBKS in the first match against KKR by scoring 40 runs. In the next match, his 86-run knock helped PBKS to score 197 runs against RR in Guwahati.

Dhawan’s finest knock of the season came against SRH where played an anchor role in PBKS batting and kept scoring runs with wickets falling regularly on the other end. He remained unbeaten on 99 runs off 66 balls due to which PBKS were able to post 143 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. Apart from Dhawan, not any other batter from the team has been able to contribute for the team Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored a fine fifty in the first game, while Prabhsimran Singh showed his form against RR by scoring 60 off 34. PBKS require performances from the middle order in order to go ahead in the tournament.

LSG will be looking for their third consecutive win

Talking about LSG, they looked like a balanced side in all four matches. They started off the season well with a huge victory of 50 runs over Delhi Capitals. Kyles Mayers’ fiery 73-run knock helped LSG to post 193 for 6. After that Mark Wood took the charge in bowling and ended up taking 5 wickets as DC were restricted at 143 for 9. However, in the next match against CSK at Chepauk, LSG fell short of just 12 runs chasing a target of 218.

After that, LSG went on to register consecutive victories against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. However. Skipper KL Rahul is yet to fire with his bat in the ongoing season and the Lucknow fans will be expecting him to play a big knock against his ex-team.

Predicted Playing XIs for both teams:

LSG: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Nicolas Pooran (wk), Amit Mishra, Ayush Badoni, Mark Wood, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Bishnoi

PBKS: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh