Lucknow Super Giants take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in a must-win match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Monday, with a place in the playoffs on the line.
With Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings winning their respective matches on Sunday, it is now a three-way race for the fourth spot into the playoffs involving LSG, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Capitals.
Lucknow Super Giants will set the ball rolling in this battle between three teams in a clash at home. They are in seventh position with 10 points and have three games to play, which means they have six points to gain if they win all three of those matches.
But before that, they face an intense battle with SRH, who have nothing to lose in this match. Sunrisers will likely play the match without their Australian opener Travis Head, who has returned a positive test for COVID-19.
SRH head coach Daniel Vettori revealed that Travis Head will be unavailable for their 12th match of the season.
Travis is coming in tomorrow morning. He was delayed. He actually had COVID, so he couldn’t travel. He’ll get in tomorrow morning and we’ll assess how he is after that.
LSG will be getting into the match after three consecutive losses and will be hoping that their fortunes will take a turn for the better after the break.
This season, they have depended on Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, and Ayush Badomi to score runs for them. But the major concern for them has been the poor form of Rishabh Pant and David Miller, because of which their middle order has been very brittle.
On the bowling front, Digvesh Singh (12 wickets), Shardul Thakur (12), Avesh Khan (10), and Ravi Bishnoi (9) have kept the momentum going for them. With New Zealand pacer Will O'Rourke replacing Mayank Yadav, LSG will be hoping the fresh fast bowler will make an immediate impact for them.
On Monday, LSG will be hoping that things will come together for them again. Victory will keep them alive in the playoffs race, defeat will consign them to the wayside. Their fortunes are now in their own hands.
In their last five matches, LSG have lost four and won only one. SRH, on the other hand, have lost three games in five matches, winning two.
Overall, LSG have an edge as they have won four of the five matches played between these two teams while SRH have won one.
Probable playing XIs: Lucknow Super Giants: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Avesh Khan
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, Kamindu Mendis, Pat Cummins, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari.
