The Lucknow Super Giants will look to end their jinx of two consecutive defeats against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings on their home turf at the Ekana Stadium on Friday. The KL Rahul-led side has been struggling to make ends meet in their batting unit which has put considerable pressure on their bowlers. South African southpaw Quinton De Kock has been on a rough patch in his last three matches after starting brightly this season. LSG’s young gun Ayush Badoni has shown intent against the teams he has played so far but will be counting on support from Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis and Krunal Pandya as well.

CSK, on the other hand, got the better of their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians on Sunday with a dominating win. The Yellow Army posted a dominating 206 total on the board for the home favourites. MI’s reply lacked its usual sting with the wickets tumbling cheaply. However, a fighting ton from their opener Rohit Sharma before CSK’s ace bowler Matheesha Pathirana weathered the storm by picking four wickets to propel his team to victory.

With the defending champions looking far more sprightly after dethroning MI on home soil, it will be interesting to see how they showcase their confidence against LSG in Lucknow on Friday. While the Lucknow pitch has been perplexing for the batsmen, both teams are likely to blaze their spinners on the deck.

CSK likely XI (if batting first)

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rehman.

CSK likely XI (if bowling first)

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindra, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rehman.

Impact Players: Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Shivam Dube, Sheikh Rashid.

LSG likely XI (if batting first)

Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Yash Thakur.

LSG likely XI (if bowling first)

Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Amit Mishra, Mayank Yadav, Yash Thakur.

Impact Players: Deepak Hooda, Amit Mishra, Matt Henry.

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