With the race to the IPL 2024 playoffs heating up, our boys will be eager to pick up two valuable points against Kolkata Knight Riders at the BRSABV Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday. The evening fixture, our final home game of the season, will start at 7:30 PM IST.

Our team has secured victories in four out of six matches at the Ekana this season and will aim to make the most of the home advantage once again. 

A win against the second-placed KKR on Sunday would see us draw level with them on points and strengthen our bid to finish in the top two after the league stage. 

We are currently third on the points table with 12 points from 10 matches and a net run rate of 0.094 while KKR have 14 points from as many matches but the healthiest net run rate among all teams at 1.098.

Marcus Stoinis has been crucial in our success this season. With 316 runs in 10 innings, he is our second-highest run-scorer, only behind skipper KL Rahul. 

Even against Mumbai Indians in our previous match, Stoinis displayed his all-round skills by scoring 62 off 45 and picking up 1/19 in three overs. He has also come off well in the run-chases this season, averaging 98.5 at a strike-rate of 166. We have lost all four games where he has been dismissed for 10 or less.

The likes of Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni and Deepak Hooda will look to step up in the middle order. 

Mayank Yadav’s injury resurfacing in the previous game was unfortunate for us but Mohsin Khan and Yash Thakur have been in good form lately. Stoinis, Naveen-ul-Haq and Ravi Bishnoi also give us plenty of variety in the bowling department. 

Mohsin dismissed Rohit Sharma and Nehal Wadhera to break the back of the MI batting line-up in the previous fixture and he will look for a similar performance against the KKR on Sunday.

News from KKR camp

KKR were down for the count against MI at 57/5 in their previous fixture but Venkatesh Iyer and Mayank Yadav came to their rescue and took them to 169. Mitchell Starc also found form in the last match and the two-time champions will have their tails up heading into Sunday’s fixture.

Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Phil Salt have been in fine touch with the bat too. Narine has also been among wickets while being economical and has an effective spin partner in Varun Chakravarthy. Speedster Harshit Rana could come back into the squad after serving a one-match ban.

KKR vs LSG history

We have faced KKR four times and our only loss to them came earlier this season on April 14 in the away fixture.

We posted 161/7 after being sent in to bat first with Nicky P (45 off 32) top-scoring for us. In reply, KKR rode on Phil Salt’s 89 off 47 to chase the target in 15.4 overs. Mohsin Khan delivered an economical spell of 2/29 in four overs. 

Apart from that loss, we also have pulled off some memorable performances against KKR. 

In our first meeting in IPL 2022, Quinton de Kock’s half-century took us to 176/7 before we bowled out KKR for 101 in 15 overs. The 75-run victory remains our biggest in the IPL. 

We batted first in the reverse fixture as well, riding on QDK’s 140 and KL Rahul’s 68, we posted 210/0 in 20 overs. It is the highest opening stand in IPL history. It was also the first time in the IPL that a team batted first and went through 20 overs without losing a wicket. However, we won the match by a margin of only two runs.

Last season, Pooran’s 58 helped us reach 176/8 before Ravi Bishnoi’s 2/23 and Yash Thakur’s 2/31 helped us pull off a one-run victory. 

Stats that matter

  • Nicholas Pooran is five fours away from 100 fours in IPL.
  • Deepak Hooda is six fours away from 100 fours in IPL.
  • KL Rahul is eight fours away from 400 fours in IPL.
  • KL Rahul is 94 runs away from 500 runs in IPL 2024.
  • Quinton de Kock is 45 runs away from 500 runs against KKR in IPL.
  • KL Rahul is 10 runs away from 500 runs against KKR in IPL.

How to watch LSG vs KKR live

Venue: BRSABV Ekana Stadium, Lucknow

Match start time: May 5, 7:30 PM IST

Streaming: Jio Cinema

TV channel: Star Sports Network