Mohali, India

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Punjab Kings will host Lucknow Super Giants in Match 38 of IPL 2023 in Mohali on Friday. With eight points each in seven games played, both teams are strangling in the mid-table and are yet to prove their mettle this season. While Punjab are entering this game on the back of a close win over Mumbai Indians at Wankhede, Lucknow had a forgetful night at home against Gujarat Titans after losing the game from a winning position.

High on confidence following the win over Rohit's Mumbai, Punjab will like to carry the momentum into the second half of the tournament. Arshdeep’s two searing Yorkers in the final over versus MI made headlines for breaking the middle stumps on two successive deliveries, as his exploits with both new and a relative order ball have made him a bowler to look out for, for any side.

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While the stand-in captain in Shikhar Dhawan’s absence, Sam Curran, has fared well with both bat and ball too, the onus will fall on remaining overseas stars - Liam Livingstone and seamer Nathan Ellis to come good against LSG. 

However, Punjab has struggled to get going in the Powerplay since the time Dhawan got ruled out, with new players finding it tough to mint gaps and score at a superior rate. Since the franchise hasn’t provided any update on the injury status of both Dhawan and Kagiso Rabada, it’s fair to assume both will sit out from tonight’s clash too.

On the other hand, Lucknow will have to put in hard yards and snub the demons of the last game to reign supreme in this contest. Contrary to how they are going about their game plan so far, it’s time they bring in Quinton de Kock in the top order to accelerate things. Also, with KL Rahul’s history of scoring the fastest fifty at this venue in the past, he would fancy his chances of overturning fortunes again.

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Meanwhile, LSG’s bowling has been good and consistent, and that is where they take the points home. 

Result Prediction –

Despite Punjab playing at home and having some momentum on their side, LSG is likely to spoil their winning spree and will walk out as favourites today.

Predicted XIs of both teams –

PBKS - Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

LSG - KL Rahul (c), Kyle Mayers/Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Shivam Mavi, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan