LSG Vs KKR: Rishabh Pant (ANI)
LSG Vs KKR: Two struggling sides will lock horns on Sunday night as Lucknow Super Giants take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Indian Premier League 2026, with both teams desperate to turn their campaigns around. Captains Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane are under increasing pressure as their teams continue to struggle.
KKR’s decision to back Rahane despite a disappointing 2025 season raised questions, and the results so far have done little to silence critics. The team had to wait until their seventh match to register their first win, which relied heavily on Rinku Singh’s brilliance rather than a complete team effort.
Rahane has shown some intent with scores of 67 against Mumbai Indians and a quick 41 versus LSG, but he has not produced the kind of match-winning innings expected in T20 cricket.
The situation is similar for LSG, who have managed only two wins so far this season. Pant’s own form has been a concern, adding to the team’s problems.
After a match-winning 67 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Pant has struggled to make an impact, including a duck against Rajasthan Royals. His approach in key moments has looked rushed rather than composed, which has hurt LSG in close situations.
The two teams have played against each other in seven matches where LSG have won five and KKR just two.
In meetings between Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders, the highest team total is 238/3, scored by LSG in Kolkata on April 8, 2025, while the lowest is 101 all out by KKR in Pune on May 7, 2022. The biggest win by wickets came when KKR chased down 162 with 8 wickets in hand at the Eden Gardens in 2024, while their biggest win by runs was a dominant 98-run victory at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in 2024 after scoring 235/6 and bowling out LSG for 137.
Individually, Quinton de Kock leads the run charts with 228 runs in four matches for LSG and also holds the highest score in the fixture with an unbeaten 140 for KKR. Nicholas Pooran has hit the most sixes (19) and shares the most 50-plus scores (2) with de Kock for LSG. With the ball, several players share the most wickets (six each), including Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Mohsin Khan, and Ravi Bishnoi. The best bowling figures in this rivalry belong to Avesh Khan with 3/19 for LSG, while the most appearances are shared by Narine and Rinku Singh, with seven matches each for KKR.
Unlike other venues, Lucknow has offered some respite for the bowlers, especially to the spinners. The ball here is turning much more this season, and the result is being reflected on the scorecard, which appears middling when compared to those at other venues.
Lucknow Super Giants Probable Playing XI: Mitchell Marsh, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (captain and wicketkeeper), Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mayank Yadav
Impact Subs: Himmat Singh, George Linde, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke, Abdul Samad
Kolkata Knight Riders Probable Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini
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