IPL 2024 LSG vs PBKS Preview - Pitch conditions likely to play major role in the outcome

Key match stats

Pitch Stats – Ekana Stadium IPL records

Pitch stats from the 10 most recent IPL matches played at the Ekana Stadium

Team form
LSG: L
PBKS: WL

Recent meetings: IPL 2023 - LSG won by 56 runs, PBKS won by 2 wickets

Weather

General Forecast: Dry and Clear
Chance of dew: Low

Preview LSG vs PBKS

Lucknow Super Giants have had to wait a long time for their 2nd match of IPL 2024 but perhaps the break will have allowed them time to contemplate their defeat in Jaipur last Sunday and how they'll go about improving their record on the pitch here at the Ekana Sports Stadium.

The first problem is pretty simple, don't find yourself 11 for 3 when chasing a score of 190+. KL Rahul and Nicolas Pooran did a pretty decent job of hauling the Super Giants back into the game after that awful start but some good death bowling from the Royals ultimately left them with too much to do.

The 2nd consideration is really where things get interesting especially against the back drop of the home superiority we've seen to date in IPL 2024.

The new Ekana Stadium in Lucknow was by far the toughest track to make runs on last season as evidenced by all the stats in the graphic above. On every measure that I use to assess pitch conditions, Ekana came out as the lowest on all except one (strike rate for pace bowling is 3rd lowest) and that is less about the pitches at the Narendra Modi and MA Chidambaram Stadiums and more about the brilliance of the bowlers who ply their trade there.

This venue is also one of several across India that has the option of a red or black soil pitch. Where the former was used in IPL 2023, scores decreased even further as the conditions got slower and lower. LSG have a strong, settled squad but whether their batting line-up is particularly well suited to those kind of conditions is questionable.

What we do know is that this pitch was used for multiple games in the 50 over World Cup last year and it wasn't dreadful. South Africa scored 311 on it against Australia (QdK got a hundred in that game) and Australia themselves knocked off Sri Lanka's meagre total of 216 in 35 overs, suggesting that there may be a bit more life in the surface this year.

As for PBKS, they won the equivalent game here last season in impressive fashion, chasing down an above average score despite finding themselves 2 down inside 3 overs.

Their lack of consistency makes them one of the harder teams to predict in IPL 2024. While the temptation is to think that they would have won their match against RCB if only Jonny Bairstow had taken that catch to get Kohli early on, the real concern for them should be that 5 of their batsmen got themselves in on Monday night but none of them went onto play that match winning innings.

Last season, Sikander Raza made a gritty 50 to help them over the line against LSG here. It's not an innings that will go down in the annuls of cricketing history as one of the great T20 knocks but it was just what was required. Who amongst this PBKS batting line-up can replicate that kind of performance tonight?

LSG vs PBKS head to head

PBKS bowling vs LSG batting

As insinuated above, LSG's batsmen have not enjoyed playing at this venue. Nicolas Pooran who was nearly the hero of LSG's opening match, averaged just 14 at the Ekana Stadium last year with a strike rate of 106, a near 40 point drop vs his career T20 record.

Deepak Hooda T20 record at the Ekana Stadium

Where LSG did find some success in the early part of last season was with Kyle Mayers coming out and being ultra aggressive in the powerplay and utilising what little pace was on offer. QdK will probably need to do something similar this season if KL Rahul is set to play his anchor role again.

While the LSG skipper gets a fair amount of abuse for the speed at which he scores in T20 cricket, this is not a venue where batsmen can just come in and up the scoring rate from ball one. You need top order batsmen to play through the innings and guide a team to a winning score which is exactly what KL Rahul will be attempting to do.

KL Rahul T20 head to head vs Rabada

There were times last season where Rabada seemed disinterested in his team's cricket as he struggled to nail down a spot in the starting XI but signs are that he's more up for the fight in IPL 2024 and his contest against KL Rahul could be key.

One PBKS bowler who has struggled so far is Rahul Chahar. The conditions in Bengaluru last time out were not likely to suit him and he should find things more to his liking here in Lucknow. However, his head to head against LSG's top 8 batsmen is poor and his lack of penetration in the middle overs continues to be a source of concern for Punjab.

LSG top 8 batsmen T20 head to head vs Chahar

With both his economy rate and strike rate heading in the wrong direction over the last few IPL seasons, a poor return in the early part of IPL 2024 might require PBKS to rethink their options.

LSG bowling vs PBKS batting

While the LSG batsmen didn't enjoy things at the Ekana Stadium last season, the same can't be said of the bowlers. Ravi Bisnoi and Naveen-Ul-Haq both claimed 9 wickets a piece here in 2023 while Krunal Pandya, LSG's most used bowler last year, went for under a run ball in home matches.

Dhawan T20 head to head vs Mishra

Even the wily old Amit Mishra got a run out in matches here last season, no doubt helped by the fact that he could be subbed off once his overs were complete. He had a strike rate of a wicket every 10.8 balls bowled on this pitch and his head to head against fellow IPL veteran Shikhar Dhawan is very promising too.

The PBKS bowlers this season have displayed a very similar problem to those which continues to plague their batsmen - nice starts but no finish!

Opposition	Overs 10 - 17	Overs 18 - 20
DC	7.3	12.3
RCB	8.0	15.9

PBKS bowling economy rates in their opening 2 games of IPL 2024

They've controlled the opposition pretty well during much of the middle over phase and into the death and then lost control of innings late on. Abhishek Porel took 25 off the final over of DC's innings which nearly cost PBKS the game. While against RCB, they were in the box seat when Rawat was dismissed in the 17th over only to end up losing with 4 balls to spare.

You can bet that LSG's power hitters in Pooran and Stoinis will be eyeing a similar blitz towards the closing stages of the LSG innings and in a game where runs might be tough to come by, 1 or 2 big overs could prove the difference come the final reckoning.

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All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
IPL player head to head records
IPL player records by stadium
IPL stadium records.
Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and highlights within GIFs which are not intended to infringe copyright- read full disclaimer. Background images are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free.