Mumbai Indians and the Lucknow Super Giants are set to square off in the first reverse fixture of this season’s TATA IPL. In this article, we will be previewing the LKN vs MI game with our comprehensive analysis of both the teams, the pitch report and the playing conditions.
Team forms
Both teams will head into Sunday’s encounter at the back of losses; albeit the morale will be wildly different across both the dressing rooms. For starters, Lucknow’s batting unit hasn’t really been able to fire collectively, and has relied way too much on one or two guys playing a whirlwind innings to take them across the line. In a ten-team tournament like this, consistency is an underrated factor, and that is something KL Rahul and co. will need to be mindful about.
They will also need to organize their playing XI in a way that every player knows what all roles they’ll have to perform; which has been a bit tricky at times with the number of all-rounders in their side. They’re placed reasonably comfortable on the points table at fifth position, and a win tomorrow will help them steer clear of the log-jam that’s starting to form at the middle of the table.
Mumbai, meanwhile, don’t have the luxury to address minor, nit-picky problems like the ones LSG are currently faced with. Barring the form of their middle order batsmen, almost nothing seems to have worked for them in all the games they’ve played this year. Still, it was refreshing to see the MI think-tank try out some new players in the last game, which does seem to suggest that the team morale isn’t really as bad as we as outside fans might think.
Should they committed to break out of their 7-match losing rut, MI will need some inspired batting performances at the top from Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan. The bowling, too, while looking on the cusp of generally improving, needs to start taking some responsibility to ensure that Mumbai claim their first 2 points of the season.
Match Details for LKN vs MI
Date: 24 April 2022
Time: 7: 30 PM IST
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
LSG vs MI Dream XI team Prediction
Keepers: KL Rahul, Quinto de Kock
Batsmen: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis
All-rounders: Jason Holder, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams
Bowlers: Avesh Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat
Captain choices: KL Rahul, Jason Holder
Vice-captain choices: Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
LKN vs MI Pitch Report
The Wankhede Stadium has been a good batting surface so far, recording an average first-innings score of 167. Fast bowlers have been slightly more successful at picking up wickets on this surface, which can be attributed to the bounce and swing on offer at this venue.
ALSO READ: Wankhede Stadium Mumbai Pitch Report for IPL 2022 and T20 Records
Spinners should try to pick wickets instead of trying to contain batsmen in the middle overs, because a defensive bowling approach here generally tends to backfire. Going by the overall record, teams winning the toss like to chase at this venue. Here is a complete list of Wankhede Stadium’s IPL records.
Statistic | All-time | 2022 Season |
Average first innings score at Wankhede Stadium | 167.3 | 167.3 |
Average first innings winning score at Wankhede Stadium | 180.7 | 192.0 |
% Teams winning batting first at Wankhede Stadium | 47% | 43% |
% Teams winning chasing at Wankhede Stadium | 51% | 57% |
balls per 4 scored at Wankhede Stadium | 8.0 | 8.3 |
balls per 6 scored at Wankhede Stadium | 18.1 | 14.7 |
Average powerplay score at Wankhede Stadium | 45.6 | 44.4 |
Average death overs (last 5) score at Wankhede Stadium | 51.4 | 61.3 |
IPL Venue bowling statistics Wankhede Stadium
Statistic | All-time | 2022 Season |
Spin bowling average at Wankhede Stadium | 30.9 | 36.1 |
Pace bowling average at Wankhede Stadium | 27.5 | 29.8 |
Spin bowling economy rate at Wankhede Stadium | 7.5 | 7.4 |
Pace bowling economy rate at Wankhede Stadium | 8.1 | 8.6 |
Spin bowling strike rate at Wankhede Stadium | 24.5 | 29.3 |
Pace bowling strike rate at Wankhede Stadium | 20.4 | 20.7 |