Big picture: The battle of bottom-dwellers
It has been a tough season for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). They are the two bottom teams in IPL 2026 and will try to get their season back on track when they meet at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. LSG started well, winning two of their first three matches but have since had a steep fall, losing four in a row. KKR didn't manage a single win in their first six games (one was a washout) before beating Rajasthan Royals.
KKR, who had to contend with a depleted fast bowling attack, will welcome the addition of Matheesha Pathirana, who is fit and available for the LSG game. Who he replaces becomes the key question. One option could be replacing Rovman Powell, but Powell has been in decent form. That could mean Pathirana comes in for Tim Seifert, and Sunil Narine opens the batting with Ajinkya Rahane.
KKR have the worst economy rate in the powerplay so far in the tournament and have picked up the second-fewest wickets in that phase. They will hope Pathirana's inclusion helps to improve those numbers.
LSG's headaches lie more with their batters, as their bowlers have been flying. With most first-choice players available, they are one of the few teams to have an all-Indian bowling attack, and their effectiveness shows in the numbers. They have the best economy rate (7.59) in the powerplay and have taken the second-most wickets in the phase (14). Leading the pack are Prince Yadav and Mohammed Shami, while Mohsin Khan has also been consistent.
LSG's batting, however, has failed to click. They have the worst scoring rate in the powerplay (8.19) and middle overs (7.75), and the second-worst at the death (9.18). Nicholas Pooran is having a forgettable season, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram are yet to hit top gear and Rishabh Pant has blown hot and cold. They need a batting rethink and quickly.
LSG will be buoyed by the fact that their last win in IPL 2026 came against KKR, when Mukul Choudhary announced himself with an unbeaten 54, taking his team over the line in a last-ball thriller.
Form guide
Kolkata Knight Riders WLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Lucknow Super Giants LLLLW
Key Question
Team news: Pathirana available
Apart from Pathirana coming in, no other changes are expected.
Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Kartik Tyagi, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Vaibhav Arora
LSG fielded just three overseas players in the last two games, with Matthew Breetzke on the Impact Player bench but not used. With LSG's batting stuttering and stumbling, there is a chance that he might replace Pooran or Markram, or come in as an Impact Player. Fast bowler Anrich Nortje has flown back to South Africa for the birth of his twins and will not be available for the KKR game.
Lucknow Super Giants (probable): 1 Mitchell Marsh, 2 Ayush Badoni, 3 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran/Matthew Breetzke, 6 Himmat Singh, 7 Mukul Choudhary, 8 Digvesh Rathi, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Prince Yadav, 11 Mayank Yadav, 12 Mohsin Khan
In the spotlight: Varun Chakravarthy and Mohsin Khan
Varun Chakravarthy finally found form in KKR's previous outing against RR, picking up 3 for 14 and taking the Player-of-the-Match award. He downplayed his return to form, crediting the slow Kolkata surface but KKR will be pleased with one of their main weapons finally getting among the wickets. On a tacky Lucknow surface and against a brittle LSG middle-order, Varun will want to extend his wicket-taking run.
Mohsin Khan, in the previous game against RR, achieved what many felt could never happen - bowl a maiden to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Mohsin has had rotten luck with injuries for more than a year, but now fit and back to his best, he's been one of LSG's key bowlers. In the three games that he's played so far this season, he has picked up four wickets, at an economy rate of just 6.58. Among bowlers with more than ten overs in IPL 2026, he has the second-best economy rate.
Stats and trivia
Narine needs just two wickets to become just the third bowler to complete 200 wickets in the IPL.
Varun has dismissed Markram six times in 13 T20 innings.
Rahane has a solid record against Shami, having never fallen to the fast bowler while scoring 99 runs at a strike rate of 168.
Pathirana has an excellent record against Pant in T20s, having dismissed him three times in four games.
Pooran's strike rate of 82.02 is the lowest so far in IPL 2026 (minimum 50 balls faced).
Shami has the third-most wickets in the powerplay so far this season: six.
Pitch and conditions
The Ekana Cricket Stadium has been tricky for batting so far this season, with no team having breached the 200 mark in six innings. The average first-innings score in IPL 2026 here has been 155, with the fast bowlers often getting purchase up top. It will be a black-soil surface in play for the LSG-KKR clash, with the pitch expected to be two-paced once again.
Quotes
"Everyone knows that our batting at the moment isn't where it needs to be and no much more than the batters themselves, but I can assure you the kind if converstaions, guys working hard, we feel we are one match away from smashing it and be where we need to be."
LSG spin-bowling coach Carl Crowe feels the LSG batters are one match away from regaining form"I am very confident and feel very nice as well that I am ready to play and the preparation is also similar in advance."
Anukul Roy on getting consistent chances
