🏏IPL 2024: Match 54: Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders🏏 - Page 4

Pitch and dimensions report: Bit of an imbalance in the ground dimensions. One side is 61m square, the other is 68m. This is the third time this red-soil strip is being used, and there's a hint of green grass, but also some bare patches. Expectations are that the pitch will slow down at some point. Aaron Finch reckons 190-200 is the score to aim."

Pitch Report | Ravi Shastri and Aaron Finch: "A gentle breeze blowing across the ground. This is one of the biggest grounds in India. Straight down the ground is 76m, square boundaries - 68m and 61m. The dimensions will make a bit of a difference, we've seen the ball into the surface being used particularly with one side bigger than the other right throughout this tournament. When we come to the wicket, this is the third time that this surface is being used. There's a hint of green grass on it, but there are some bare red patches. We expect it to slow down a little bit more than what it might have in the past. Anywhere around that 190-200 will be a good score batting first. First time 199 was defended, second time 176 was easily chased down. The last time when Lucknow played here, the ball just held in the surface, particularly for the spinners. With a real good quality spin attack in both line-ups, that will play a big part in tonight's game. I reckon the team that wins the toss will still want to field first because of the dew factor and teams have chased big scores down."

Varun Chakravarthy: The whole team has prepped well. The plans, the hardwork that was going behind the scenes, all those things have come very handy this time. I definitely tend to bowl better when there is some challenge ahead of me. When I don't see a challenge ahead of me, I tend to try something new and I falter there. If I know what I have to do, I do it better. The wickets are slowing down a little, but I won't say very much. Just because the trend was 260s, now 180s are looking very low, but that's not the thing. They are still scoring 180s. Personally, I have played a lot of domestic games at this ground in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Many people in the team were asking me how's the ground and how's the pitch going to be because none of them have come here. We have seen a few footage, we've planned and prepped well, let's see how it turns out today. (How to beat LSG?) Do better than the last game.

Lucknow Super Giants have won the toss and have opted to field

Lucknow Super Giants have won the toss and have opted to field

LSG won the toss and opted to bowl first.

KL Rahul: We will bowl first. I'm not a best reader of a wicket, we just like chasing. The good thing is we have been able to adapt really well and quickly to the conditions, there have been quite a few briliiiant individual performances as well. There's been a lot of talk about strike-rate, and T20 cricket has changed a lot in the last couple of years

KL Rahul: We will bowl first. I'm not a best reader of a wicket, we just like chasing. The good thing is we have been able to adapt really well and quickly to the conditions, there have been quite a few briliiiant individual performances as well. There's been a lot of talk about strike-rate, and T20 cricket has changed a lot in the last couple of years. He was injured in the last game, Yash Thakur comes in for Mayank Yadav.

KL Rahul: I'm not the best reader of the wicket, we just like chasing. (Challenges) Different every game. We've adapted well on the two pitches here and travelled well too. Individual performances too in a competition like this. Everyone's put their hands up. (His highest strike-rates in IPL 2024) There's been a lot of talk about strike-rates and the format is changing. Even 220 is now safe. It is evolving. (Team plans) Quinton was injured in the last game, but we are staying with the same team. Yash Thakur will play."

Shreyas Iyer: We would've bowled too but this is six in a row [losing toss]. Last game gave us tremendous confidence defending 170 with just five bowlers. There's a lot of self belief."

Today I got toss points for both matches