Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss in Lucknow and, without much hesitation, chose to chase. Rajat Patidar called correctly, nodded at Virat Kohli, and said he expected dew later on. So, for the second match running, RCB take the field unchanged.
That means Jacob Bethell keeps Phil Salt’s place at the top of the order. Salt is still at home having scans on the finger he jarred last week. The medical team say he may yet return for the closing stages.
Lucknow Super Giants, meanwhile, have spent most of the afternoon with the physio. Josh Inglis (hamstring) is out, so 19-year-old Arshin Kulkarni gets his first IPL start and will open alongside Mitch Marsh. Both Mohsin Khan and Avesh Khan have niggles; in come left-arm spinning all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed and leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi. Three changes, all enforced.
Pitch and par score
Captain Rishabh Pant looked at the red-soil strip and reckoned it had runs in it. “Pant felt this was a ‘180-190 wicket’ which he felt was ‘better [red-soil wicket] than most of the other games.’” He added, “We know we’re a top team, but the main thing is clarity. We have a few changes in the batting order. Having a stable environment is needed, but we need to make changes at times.”
Table maths
RCB sit third and know a win takes them, at least briefly, to the summit. LSG are rock bottom; even victory might not lift them off last place but would at least keep the season alive.
Playing XIs
LSG (batting first): Mitch Marsh, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav.
Impact options: Mayank Yadav, Mukul Chowdhary, Abdul Samad, M Siddharth, Avesh Khan.
RCB (fielding first): Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar.
Impact options: Tim David, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Otswal, Venkatesh Iyer.
What to watch
• Kulkarni facing Hazlewood new ball – very little data, plenty of nerves.
• Shahbaz and Rathi together give LSG two slow left-arm angles; risk or reward against Kohli?
• Bethell’s strike rate in the Powerplay last match was 148. RCB would happily take a repeat.
The game starts under hazy skies, 37°C, with the mercury set to drop only a touch. Dew later could help the chasers, which is precisely why Patidar rolled the dice at the toss.
