LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will bank heavily on their 21-year-old star pacer
Mayank Yadav
as they look forward to scoring a hat-trick of victories against Gujarat Titans at Ekana International Stadium on Sunday.
LSG began their IPL campaign with a defeat to Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur but made a quick comeback by winning the next two games against Punjab and RCB.
The Titans, led by young captain
Shubman Gill
, have played four matches with two victories and two defeats and need to win against LSG to strengthen their position.
With the brilliant performance by its players, especially the express pace of Mayank, LSG have begun the league well.
Against PBKS, Mayank took charge of the bowling attack and rattled the batters with his thunderbolt deliveries. He has emerged as the fastest bowler of this season, first clocking 155.8 kmph against Punjab and then surpassing his record to bowl at an astounding 156.7 kmph against RCB.
Ravi Bishnoi
has proved to be a bit expensive so far in this season while pacer Yash Thakur has also failed to make a mark.
Top-order batter and wicketkeeper
Quinton de Kock
and Nicholas Pooran seem to be in top form. In the inaugural match against Rajasthan Royals, skipper KL Rahul also performed well but he is yet to post a big score.
Ayush Badoni needs to showcase his talent as he has not been able to impress with his batting so far and same has been the case with batter Devdutt Padikkal.
Gujarat Titans' top-order batter
Sai Sudarshan
has played well and helped the team put up a big total.
Allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai did well for the Gujarat Titans and took two wickets against Mumbai Indians. The other two Afghanistan bowlers, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed, have not been very effective.
The pitch at the Ekana stadium saw the home team score 199 against Punjab. The wicket is likely to play well and batsmen will be able to score freely.