There is one match in the Indian Premier League on Friday as the IPL 2023 season is back in Mohali for the clash between the Punjab Kings and the Lucknow Super Giants, who begin the second half of the campaign tied on points.
Courtesy of their net run rate, the Lucknow Super Giants begin the match in fourth, two places ahead of their opponents in this match, but the winners will move to 10 points and will be tied for top spot as we head towards the latter stages of the regular season.
Punjab Kings
The Punjab Kings opened up the season with a couple of wins and plenty thought that they were motioning to be serious runners in this campaign. They have lost three out of five matches since then but there have been signs throughout the competition that they might be the ones to emerge from the pack as the most dangerous team when it comes to launching a postseason run. Liam Livingstone is finally up and running and you would imagine as he builds up a head of steam with more matches, so too will the Kings.
The one thing which Punjab have up their sleeve which not every team does is two death bowlers who are very good at the end of an innings. Arshdeep Singh is really making a name for himself at that part of the innings, while we saw at the T20 Blast just what Nathan Ellis can do. If their top order can keep coming to the party then Punjab Kings should be dangers for anyone that they face unless injuries begin to take their toll.
Lucknow Super Giants
The Lucknow Super Giants have an identical record to their opponents in this match but there has been a bit more of a convincing edge about their work, helped by the fact that their top six has worked well for them and when they have needed key bowlers to step up and be counted they have done that. The negative for the Super Giants is that they have lost two of their last three matches, one of which was in the reverse fixture here.
The strength in depth of the Lucknow squad is very much on their side. It seems ridiculous to think that we are halfway through the season and Quinton de Kock hasn’t seen the pitch but that is the case. They have used 13 bowling options throughout this competition as well which highlights how much depth they have and how they can name a team which suits the conditions which are in front of them, which is important given the tricky nature of the tracks in Lucknow.
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Key Players
Liam Livingstone has the potential to be one of the most destructive batters in the competition. Having not played for so long he is going to build his way into the tournament but if he comes good here then Punjab will be well on their way to victory.
If Lucknow Super Giants are going to win this match then you would think someone is going to need to get after the Punjab death bowlers. That is the job of Nicholas Pooran who can be devastating on his day.
Betting
This should be a good match. The Lucknow Super Giants are the favourites to win the match but the Punjab Kings have already beaten them this season and there was no Shikhar Dhawan or Liam Livingstone for that match so you suspect there could be more to come from the Punjab outfit. In saying that, I don’t really want to take on Lucknow because they have so many options that they can fit the conditions perfectly so I’ll look elsewhere for a bet.
That comes in the form of the low looking performance line of Kyle Mayers which at 24.5 is one to attack. He hasn’t bowled in the last three matches but I suspect that is because in two of them Lucknow batted first and he is the obvious player to be impact subbed out. In the other match Lucknow opened with a spinner on a dry surface. There is no guarantee that Mayers bowls in this match but even if he doesn’t he has scored 25 or more in four of his seven matches this season, including in the reverse fixture, and got 24 in another match. The wicket in Mohali is generally good against the new ball so I fancy Mayers to get the team off to a flyer and cover this line with or without any bowling efforts.
Tips
Back K.Mayers’ Performance – Over 24.5 points for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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