The Indian Premier League has another double header taking place on Wednesday with the first of the two IPL 2023 matches on the day seeing the Lucknow Super Giants going up against the Chennai Super Kings.
Both teams have more wins than losses this season and a place in the top two will be on offer for whoever comes out on top in Lucknow. With matches beginning to run out in the regular campaign that is significant given the extra benefits finishing in the top two brings.
Lucknow Super Giants
The Lucknow Super Giants have five wins and four defeats on their ledger this season. They had the chance to go top of the table on Monday but couldn’t get the better of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and now they have to look to bounce back barely 36 hours later. That clearly isn’t going to be an ideal situation but if there is a positive in the tough schedule it comes in the form of the fact that they are at least at home in both encounters.
You get the feeling that if the Super Giants fail to finish in the top four this season then it is the sluggish pitches which really put a strain on their stroke players will be the reason for it. They have just failed to chase 127 on this ground and not knowing exactly how the ball is going to react off the pitch is not helping. They do have the bowling unit to cope with the conditions that are on offer but that won’t count for much if they can’t find a batter or two to adjust to what is needed.
Chennai Super Kings
The Chennai Super Kings are also on five wins after nine matches and much like the Lucknow games which have been played out good pitches, they are generally involved in high scoring contests. That probably plays to their strengths right now but it does leave them exposed if they lose the toss and we saw evidence of that against the Punjab Kings last time out. If there is a positive for Chennai here it is that their home wickets aren’t always the best so a tacky strip shouldn’t inconvenience them too much.
The big question here is whether the Super Kings batters will cope with the slower nature of this pitch. You would imagine that they will because most of their middle order are Indian or of Asian ascent which is the difference between them and Lucknow. The big thing for Chennai is that they are not short of spinners and that could be very significant, particularly as they have all three kinds of spin covered to deal with the Lucknow lefties.
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Key Players
With KL Rahul missing this match through injury it might be worth Kyle Mayers chancing his arm even more than usual in a bid to get the Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the run rate and hope his blitz is enough to win the game.
Ravindra Jadeja could be an important player for the Chennai Super Kings. His four overs of left arm spin will certainly come into the game but as a batter he generally plays spin well and could be the difference maker.
Betting
I think the KL Rahul injury will have a huge bearing on this match. He isn’t just the opening batter and captain of this side but he is probably the one truly top class batter in the team who could be relied upon to adjust his game and get some sort of score on the board. In his absence in the previous game there was nothing really in the Lucknow Super Giants batting and I think that massively sways things in the favour of the Chennai Super Kings.
Chennai can load their attack with spinners which should really fit this surface, especially when you consider that this match will be played in a fair bit of heat given that it is a day game. The other thing I like about the Super Kings in this match is that their batting unit is all either Indian or of Asian ascent and their ability to play spin and rotate the strike could be very important. With or without Rahul I’d have thought Lucknow would be up against it but in his absence the needle sways very much in the favour of the Super Kings for me.
Tips
Back Chennai Super Kings to beat Lucknow Super Giants for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Paddy Power
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