PBKS vs LSG 38th Match Prediction

PBKS vs LSG Team Previews

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings will be delighted with their performance in the last match where they defeated the Mumbai Indians in their backyard. The win gained them two crucial points and they are now within touching distance of breaking into the top-4.

Despite missing the services of their star batsman and skipper Shikhar Dhawan, the Kings put up a brilliant batting performance to put up a massive total of 214 against MI. There is no news whether Dhawan will be available for selection for this match.

The team got a decent start but it was a 92-run partnership between Harpreet Singh and Sam Curran for the 5th wicket that set the tone, while Jitesh Sharma played a brilliant cameo of 25 runs from just 7 deliveries to give the team a final push.

Liam Livingstone had had a quiet few matches but do not underestimate him. He is someone who is capable of playing a match-winning inning or even pick up crucial wickets his both-ways spin. We also think that PBKS should seriously consider bring back Bhanuka Rajapaksa in place of Matt Short.

We think Jitesh Sharma is doing a massive job as a finisher and looks ready to make the step up to international cricket. There is plenty of power in the PBKS batting lineup.

Arshdeep Singh will once again lead the new-ball attack and will have Nathan Ellis supporting him at the other end. Arshdeep has been pretty consistent even at the death overs and has claimed 13 wickets so far.

Nathan Ellis too has picked up wickets at regular intervals but has been expensive, while Sam Curran and Rahul Chahar have struggled to keep the opposition batsmen reined in.

Lucknow Super Giants

The Lucknow Super Giants began the season on a strong note but they have lost 2 of their last 3 outings. As a result, they are now in danger of falling out from the top-4 on the table.

It was a forgettable performance by the Super Giants in their latest match where they were defeated by the Gujarat Titans. The Super Giants were in a comfortable position, needing just 31 runs in the last 6 overs, and had 9 wickets in hand. However, the team faced a stunning collapse and ended up losing the match by 7 runs.

While Kyle Mayers and KL Rahul have given the team some solid starts, there have been some criticisms about Rahul’s batting as he has batted excruciatingly slow even on good batting surfaces. His aggregate strike rate this season is just 113.91 and that tends to put pressure on the lower-order batsmen to score at a faster pace to compensate.

They do have some players who are capable of playing the big hits but the batting order seems to have been an issue. LSG keeps holding back its best batters to try and take the game deep instead of actually trying to get ahead of the required rate.

Krunal Pandya, Nicolas Pooran, and Marcus Stoinis have all been rather inconsistent. Ayush Badoni and Deepak Hooda have struggled too.

The bowling for the LSG has been inconsistent as well. Mark Wood has been the pick of the bowlers with 11 wickets from just 4 matches. His fitness hasn’t been the best and in his absence, Avesh Khan, Marcus Stoinis, and Krunal Pandya have struggled. The team has brought in Naveen ul-Haq as his replacement. While he has bowled some tight spells, he hasn’t been able to take wickets with the same frequency. 

There is a lot of depth in the LSG squad. They just need to get their strategy and approach right.