IPL Match Today, LSG vs PBKS: Check head-to-head stats as Lucknow, Punjab aim for morale-boosting wins

Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings will both be looking for a morale-boosting victory on Saturday at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow with both sides heading into the IPL 2024 clash on the back of a loss. Punbjab Kings won their season opener at their new home ground in Chandigarh last week against Delhi Capitals, but succumbed to a loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru away from home. Lucknow, meanwhile, lost their match against Rajasthan Royals by 20 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

LSG will face PBKS in their second IPL 2024 match

Playing their maiden IPL 2024 match at home, Lucknow will be aiming to make the most of known conditions to get a point on board and lift themselves up from the bottom-most position in the points table. But LSG would need an all-round performance from the team members to script a comeback after a poor show against Rajasthan where only Krunal Pandya stood out among the bowlers while captain KL Rahul, who decided to play the wicketkeeper's role keeping the T20 World Cup in mind, among batters.

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LSG dearly missed Mark Wood and David Willey in their pace line-up as the likes of Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Yash Thakur struggled against RR. Ravi Bishnoi, who is aiming for a spot in India's T20 World Cup squad, also looked ordinary in the match.

In the batting line-up, Rahul would want his opening partner Quinton de Kock to return to his belligerent best along with the likes of Devdutt Padikkal Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, and Krunal in the middle order.

For Punjab, captain Shikhar Dhawan will need support from Jonny Bairstow, who has made a forgettable start to IPL 2024, and vice-captain Jitesh Sharma, who is in the running for a World Cup berth. In the bowling department, Kagiso Rabada will need the backing from Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel.

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:

LSG and PBKS have so far faced each other three times in IPL with Lucknow narrowly leading the rivalry with a 2-1 record. However, the Rahul-led side lost their only face-off with Punjab at home, on April 15, 2023, when Sikandar Raza's all-round show helped the visitors claim a two-wicket win in a last-over finish. In their first encounter, in IPL 2022, Lucknow beat Punjab by 20 runs in Pune and won by 56 runs in their last meeting in Punjab in 2023.

What adds in favour of Punjab is that Lucknow have a 50-50 record at home in IPL since their debut appearance in 2022. In seven games played till date, they have managed just three wins and as many losses. In fact, they lost three of those matches in their last four completed games at the venue.

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