LSG aim to seal playoff spot, top-two finish

The overview

"There is nothing wrong in losing. It is absolutely fine. One team has to win, one team has to lose. But there is a lot wrong in giving up. Today I thought that we gave up and were weak. And honestly, there is no place for being weak in a tournament like the IPL or in sport," Gautam Gambhir, Lucknow Super Giants' team mentor, said in a dressing room speech to the players following their massive 62-run loss against fellow IPL debutants Gujarat Titans, who went on to become the first team to qualify for the playoffs. In a video posted by LSG on Instagram, KL Rahul and Co. were seen with their heads down as a stern Gambhir asked the players to rise up to the challenge.

Gambhir's words would have hit the players hard and they'll be eager to bounce back with a victory when they take on Rajasthan Royals in their penultimate league game. LSG are only a win away from booking a spot in the next round and should they beat Rajasthan Royals, they'll also assure themselves a top two finish, which will serve as a further incentive for the team. For RR, winning their next two games will take them through and there is also the possibility of them finishing in the top two should they do so. Hence, they'll also be looking to come up with their 'A' game and some consistency as well, having lost three of their last four matches.

LSG's main worry is their middle order. Whenever Rahul or Quinton de Kock have scored in excess of 40, which has happened on eight occasions, LSG have gone on to win the match. But in the three matches that both the openers failed together, LSG have lost all three times, highlighting the need for the middle order to step up. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler has been short of runs in the last three games and Sanju Samson has only one fifty-plus score in his last five games. RR will be hoping that their two key batters deliver, especially with no clarity on the return of Shimron Hetmyer who went home for the birth of his first child.

When: Sunday, May 15 at 19:30 IST

Where: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

What to expect: In the last three matches played at this venue, 200 has been breached by the team batting first twice. The chasing sides have lost the last three matches here, with MI managing to defend 177 against the Titans. Of the 26 190-plus totals this season, nine have been at the Brabourne Stadium. This includes seven 200-plus totals at this venue, which accounts for close to 50 per cent of the 15 200-plus totals posted thus far in the IPL.

Team watch

Lucknow Super Giants:

Tactics & match-ups: LSG left out Ravi Bishnoi in the previous game, including Karan Sharma in order to strengthen their batting order. With the move not quite working for them, the young legspinner, who was brought into the side in the pre-auction, is likely to return to the eleven. Jason Holder has dismissed Samson thrice and has conceded only 33 runs off 35 balls, and LSG will be hoping to exploit this match-up.

Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (c), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan.

Rajasthan Royals:

Tactics & match-ups: R Ashwin has dismissed De Kock four times while Yuzvendra Chahal has had the better of the South African six times. De Kock has a strike rate of around 112 against these two spinners and RR will be looking to take early advantage of that.

Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Rassie van der Dussen, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen.

Did you know?

- In the seven times that he has batted at No. 3 in this IPL, Samson has scored 245 runs at an average of 40.83. However, his average dips to 16.40, with only 82 runs in five innings, when he has batted in other positions.

- RR's pacers have taken 37 wickets so far, which is the fewest among the 10 teams in this IPL. Their strike rate of 21.9 is the worst among all sides while their economy rate of 9.2 is only marginally better than CSK's 9.3.

- LSG's pacers have bagged 51 wickets, with the best average (23.10), second-best average (17.1) and also the best economy rate (8.11) so far in the competition.

What they said:

"He's a quality player, he's playing for India. I think initially we had him down at four but we got him up to No. 3 and he's really liking that role. He just looks a class player in T20 format at that level, batting at No. 3. So hopefully we get a little bit more out of him in this tournament, he's played really well to this point and he's really bolstered that top three for us, which has been really good" - Andy Bichel, LSG's bowling coach, on Deepak Hooda.