LSG vs DC Prediction: Who will win today's IPL 2022 match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals?
Avesh Khan had a breakthrough season for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Flourishing alongside Anrich Nortje in an attack-oriented role under DC captain Rishabh Pant, Avesh scalped 24 wickets at an economy rate of 7.37 to finish second on the IPL Purple Cap list and earn several call-ups to the national team.
According to the IPL schedule, Avesh will turn out against his former franchise, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), in the 15th match of IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, April 7. He was the Player of the Match in LSG's previous game, which was a 12-run win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In contrast, DC fell to a 14-run defeat against the Gujarat Titans (GT) and have found consistency hard to come by in the Avesh-less pace department.
However, things are looking up for DC, who will welcome David Warner and Anrich Nortje into the mix. Mustafizur Rahman entered the fray in the previous game and picked up three wickets, and the prospect of a Nortje-Fizz pace partnership will please Pant.
Dropping Khaleel Ahmed, who has registered four wickets so far in IPL 2022, might be a tough call to make for the DC skipper, especially with Shardul Thakur majorly struggling with the ball. But with batting depth sacrificed in the absence of the injured Mitchell Marsh, the Capitals might be forced into making the change.
LSG could avail the services of an Aussie all-rounder of their own for the DC encounter. Marcus Stoinis, if available, will walk into the playing XI at the expense of either Manish Pandey or Evin Lewis, but KL Rahul will have to be wary of not weakening his bowling attack too much. With Jason Holder adding balance to the side as well, the Super Giants are in a good position to build on their back-to-back wins in IPL 2022.
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IPL 2022 Match Prediction: LSG vs DC
Ahead of the LSG versus DC match, Delhi assistant coach Shane Watson talked up Lalit Yadav's abilities. The young all-rounder has been consistent for the franchise this year, batting at No. 5 in a lineup that doesn't have as much star power as it did last year. But his bowling could be a key factor coming into this game.
Quinton de Kock's starting troubles against off-spin are well-known, with Washington Sundar having dismissed him in the previous game. DC will need to ensure that they don't give De Kock too much pace on the ball early on, and if they can bring either Lewis or Pandey to the crease in the powerplay, they can commence their choke from there.
Kuldeep Yadav has found a new lease of life at DC, where he is trusted to hold the middle overs together with his flight, guile and variations. Accompanied by the restrictive spin of Axar Patel, the deep LSG middle order will have a serious task on their hands on Thursday.
On the other hand, LSG's bowling lineup is slightly too dependent on Avesh and Ravi Bishnoi to deliver eight penetrative overs. If DC can manage to keep themselves safe against the duo, the likes of Holder and Krunal Pandya could be taken for big runs.
The return of Warner and Nortje makes this a very close contest, one that could go down to the last over. Dew has taken a bit of a backseat in the recent past, so the chasing IPL team might not have as pronounced an advantage at the DY Patil Stadium. The powerplay, where Shaw-Warner and Rahul-De Kock will battle it out, could turn out to be the deciding factor.
While this one's too tough to call, DC might have a slight advantage because of LSG's indifferent bowling attack. The Super Giants' only two wins have come against the two bottom-placed teams in IPL 2022, and they might be caught short against quality opposition this time.
Prediction: DC to win Match 15 of IPL 2022