Unlike most teams and most games, the tough part of IPL 2024 scheduling does even out for Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Earlier in the season, when the two teams met at Eden Gardens, home side KKR had abundant rest while LSG played their second game in 40 hours. Now, KKR have similarly traveled straight from Mumbai to Lucknow and would hardly get any time to practice to compete against a relatively fresh LSG.
The difference is, LSG came off a big home loss to Kolkata while KKR are coming after one of their most famous away wins at the Wankhede.
The Ekana Stadium hasn't been an easy resting place for visiting teams this season, though, and LSG are in excellent form too which makes this an even and tasty contest.
Below, we have predicted three bowlers who can enjoy it the most:
#3 Mohsin Khan
LSG's left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan has been one of the most reliable bowlers in IPL 2024, especially at the Ekana, where he has five wickets from four games already.
His ability to make the new ball move at a high pace has been in vogue throughout the season and Rohit Sharma was its latest victim in LSG's last match. However, even more impressive is his ability to pick wickets against the run of play in the middle and slog overs, a bit like Jasprit Bumrah and Matheesha Pathirana.
Even at Eden Gardens in the reverse fixture against KKR, Mohsin took two wickets in the powerplay despite Shamar Joseph leaking runs from the other end. As it turned out, he was the only wicket-taker in that game for LSG.
#2 Harshit Rana
KKR missed Harshit Rana dearly at the Wankhede. The pitch wasn't the usual platter of swing and bounce and instead had a bit of grip available for spinners and fast-bowlers alike.
Although, thanks to his absence KKR performed like an ever closer-knit group and came out with a win, he's likely to return to the playing 11 after serving his one-match ban for celebrating a wicket against the Delhi Capitals.
Like the atypical Wankhede wicket, the Ekana would suit him perfectly. He can make the new ball move off the surface at pace but more importantly, use his slower ones at the death. Those skills have made him KKR's highest wicket-taking pacer in IPL 2024 without even playing all games.
LSG don't have the best lower order in the competition, and some early wickets would put them right in front of a hungry Harshit's den.
#1 Sunil Narine
KKR's lead spinner Sunil Narine is one of the rare bowlers in IPL 2024 to have picked up at least a wicket in each of his games. His performance against Mumbai Indians (MI) - 2/22 (his best figures in the season) - and how he used the extra bounce to get Rohit Sharma out showed that he has achieved a second IPL peak.
Their batters could score just 17 runs in his four runs at the Eden and the West Indian has started to find a way to pick wickets even when the teams are not attacking him. The credit for it also goes to Varun Chakaravarthy whose recent purple form to restrain batters at his end has helped Narine attack further.
LSG, hosting KKR at a spin-friendly ground, will have to bring out their best performance and some more to break Narine's streak.
