Harpreet Brar: It always feels good when you are doing well for the team. I got my chance late but I got some wickets when I got my chance, happy with that. He (Chahal) is a leading wicket-taker in this league, he is a legend, I am learning from him on and off the field. My job becomes easy when he's bowling from the other end. Ricky is a positive man and always tries to stay positive, the boys are doing really good and the vibe is good. Our job is to play positive cricket. The view is very good and since the last 2 days we were relaxing but it is game time now, we are focused and want to win the tournament for Punjab. The hopes are we will qualify for the playoffs and go through to the final.
Wadhera: The atmosphere here is good. The crowd is supportive. We had a pre season camp here. Ricky Ponting has helped us in our growth.
Here are the Impact substitutes for both the teams:
Lucknow Super Giants Impact Subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Mitchell Marsh, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Shahbaz Ahmed
Teams:
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Akash Maharaj Singh, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav
Marsh: Certainly up for the challenge. We had a few days off. The first thought is it makes me feel old.
Marsh: Certainly up for the challenge. We had a few days off. The first thought is it makes me feel old. Specially, the IPL you see these talented kids on show. Punjab have had a few of their own. Quite chilled this week. We have had fun. Trying to bring in energy into the game. I loved the opportunity to open the batting. Formed a good relationship with Aiden at the top.
Shreyas Iyer: We would have bowled first as well.
Rishabh Pant: We will bowl first. We feel it is a bowling first. We don't know how it is going to play. Looks like, it will stop a bit. Little loose on the top. Still, a good wicket. It is going to be a good match.
Lucknow Super Giants have won the toss and have opted to field
Pitch report:
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran and Shreyas Iyer have gone ballistic at the top and has allowed the middle-order to breathe easy most times. Their bowling has international depth and they definitely have a rugged edge over their opponents tonight. The venue is Dharamsala and the ball often flies to all corners of the park. It should be another run feast at this bastion. Bring on your crash helmets!
18:30 Local Time, 13:00 GMT, 18:30 IST: Hello and welcome to bout number 54 in the IPL. In the red corner, punching above their weights with bona fide local talents at the top, Punjab have found aggressive ways of picking up points and also carving a niche for themselves. They look a solid squad with depth. In the blue corner, LSG have international stars adorning their top order and have done the bulk of the scoring to outdo opponents. Their bowling has lacked incision at times but they would want to up their game as time is running out fast. None can afford a loss here and their will be no shortage of jabs at each other from the word go.
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Preview
Coming into this season, Punjab Kings carried a patchy home record and a 2-2 split in Mullanpur didn't do much to change that narrative. They now shift base to Dharamshala, where the numbers don't inspire confidence either - just five wins in 13 matches, including four defeats since 2023, with their last victory at the venue coming way back in 2013. With three games lined up at the HPCA Stadium, PBKS will be eager to set the record straight, starting with the evening clash against a scratchy Lucknow Super Giants side still searching for rhythm.
After an inconsistent start followed by a hat-trick of wins, LSG have hit a rough patch again, slipping to three defeats in their last four matches. That dip in form has seen them slide down the points table, leaving them with little room for error in the final stretch. With four matches to go, they need to string together as many wins as possible to stay in the hunt for a playoff berth.
PBKS, meanwhile, find themselves in a stronger position. After a defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and a washout at Eden Gardens, they regained momentum with a crucial win over Chennai Super Kings, moving to 13 points from 10 matches, enough to give them a slight edge in a tightly packed mid-table. As the scramble for the top four - and more crucially, the top two - intensifies, PBKS will be keen to stay ahead and make the right moves to strengthen their playoff push.
A struggle against spin saw PBKS lose momentum with the bat against RCB, but their batting has looked much sharper since. They posted 201 in the rain-hit clash against Kolkata Knight Riders and followed it up by successfully chasing a target of 191 against CSK. The top three have shown consistency through this phase, giving them a much-needed sense of stability. Meanwhile, the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen have stepped up in the absence of Lockie Ferguson, while Yuzvendra Chahal has found his rhythm at the right time, his hat-trick against CSK at the death a timely boost for the bowling unit.
LSG's top order also ranks among the best in this IPL but their heavy reliance on it remains a concern. The middle order hasn't quite measured up, and Rishabh Pant's struggles have only added to the problem. When the likes of Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, or Nicholas Pooran don't fire, the middle order has often failed to step up. The return of Mayank Yadav has been a welcome boost, although he didn't make much of an impact against Mumbai Indians. Digvesh Rathi has shown versatility across phases, and Avesh Khan has delivered in patches. However, opposition batters have found ways to target the rest with only two bowlers - Rathi and Markram - maintaining an economy rate under nine.
When: PBKS vs LSG - Sunday, May 4 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala
What to expect: Three of the four IPL matches played in Dharamshala since 2023 have been won by the team batting first. The pitch here has traditionally offered good pace and bounce while the venue has also seen two 200-plus first-innings totals in this period - 213 by Delhi Capitals in 2023 and 241 by RCB in 2024, the latter coming in the most recent T20 played at the HPCA Stadium. There is some rain forecast for the morning and early afternoon on match day, but conditions are expected to clear closer to the start time.
Head to head: PBKS 2 - 3 LSG. In each of these five matches, LSG have batted first.
Team watch
Punjab Kings
Injury/unavailability: Apart from Ferguson's absence, PBKS do not have any injury concerns at the moment. PBKS might look at bringing in Xavier Bartlett for Harpreet Brar considering the pacers have found more help in Dharamshala.
Tactics & matchups: Yuzvendra Chahal has bagged 10 wickets against right-handers this season, conceding 108 runs off 92 balls. But he has struggled against left-handers, having conceded 166 runs in 82 balls for only three wickets. He has also gone for runs against Pooran, David Miller and Pant but has dismissed them a combined eight times. Meanwhile, Arshdeep has a favourable match-up against Markram, having dismissed him four times in T20s in 13 innings, while he has also accounted for Marsh twice in three IPL innings.
Injury/unavailability: LSG do not have any injuries to report, and might stick to the same combination.
Tactics & matchups: LSG's batters might look to target Arshdeep, who doesn't have a great record in Dharamshala where he has an economy of 11.07 in four matches and has picked up four wickets. Rathi might also be used early with the ball, considering he had accounted for the openers in the return fixture earlier, and was the only LSG bowler to taste success in that game (2-30 in 4 overs) while the rest went for runs.
Probable XII: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), David Miller, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav
Did you know?
- Among those who have bowled a minimum of 10 overs, Rathi has the best economy rate (6.42) in the middle overs, and has also picked up five wickets in this phase
- In his first six matches of this IPL, Pooran scored 349 runs at an average of 69.8 with a strike rate of 215.43, with four fifties. However, he has only 55 runs in the last four matches at an average of 13.75 and a strike rate of 148.64, with a highest of 27
- PBKS have a strike rate of 180.13, which is the best for any team in a single edition of the IPL
What they said:
"They've got match winners everywhere. You just have to look at their batting. They've got guys that if we're not on song can take the game away from us inside three or four overs. They've got some genuine pace coming back now with the ball. They're starting to get the full complement of players. It's a big game for both teams but the one thing they have, they've got some star power across the whole team." - Brad Haddin, PBKS assistant coach, on the LSG lineup.
Squads:
Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mayank Yadav, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Shahbaz Ahmed, Himmat Singh, Akash Maharaj Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Shardul Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Aryan Juyal, RS Hangargekar, Akash Deep, Shamar Joseph, Arshin Kulkarni
Punjab Kings
Lucknow Super Giants
