Big picture: Can LSG keep their cleansheet against Mumbai?
LSG have won by setting and chasing targets in recent games but they have depended on their overseas batters – Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Kyle Mayers and Quinton de Kock – for most of their runs. Apart from Rahul, their other Indian batters have scored only two half-centuries this season, compared to ten fifties from overseas.
While Mumbai are the best chasing side this season, LSG are the best defenders of totals. Both will have to factor in the possibility of a slow pitch, and whether or not dew will play a part, when deciding what to do if they win the toss. There are no second chances in Chennai on Wednesday: the winner takes a step closer to the final, the loser gets eliminated.
Mumbai Indians WLWWL (last five completed games, most recent first)
Lucknow Super Giants WWWLL
Team news: No injury issues
LSG don’t have any known fitness issues. For Mumbai, Tilak Varma seems to be fit because he was on their list of Impact Player subs for their previous game and was padded up, but wasn’t needed to bat.
LSG will swap an opening batter, like Karan Sharma, with one of their frontline bowlers like Mohsin Khan or Yash Thakur.
Lucknow Super Giants (probable XII): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Karan Sharma, 3 Krunal Pandya (capt), 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Prerak Mankad, 8 K Gowtham, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Mohsin Khan, 12 Yash Thakur
Mumbai will also use a similar strategy and sub out a bowler like Madhwal for Tilak if they bowl first, or vice versa if they bat first.
Mumbai Indians (probable XII): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Nehal Wadhera, 5 Tim David, 6 Tilak Varma, 7 Cameron Green, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Hrithik Shokeen/Kumar Kartikeya, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Jason Behrendorff, 12 Akash Madhwal
