IPL 2022 LSG vs CSK Preview - Things can only get better, at least for one of these teams...

Key match stats LSG vs CSK

Pitch Stats – Brabourne Stadium

Average first innings score: 180
Average first innings winning score: 194
Average powerplay score: 52
All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 50% / 50%

Team form LSG vs CSK
LSG – L
CSK – L
Recent meetings: n/a

LSG vs CSK Preview

While LSG and CSK lost their opening games of IPL 2022 both can at least be satisfied with the fight back that they showed after the truly awful starts they made to their respective innings.

Lucknow lost captain KL Rahul to not only the first ball of the innings, not only the first ball of the tournament but the first ball in their history! Some people might say that's a bad omen, I would argue it was just a really good piece of bowling by Mohammed Shami.

Similarly, CSK found themselves unable to resist the moving ball in their first match against KKR and slumped to 35 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. Had they not have pushed the self destruct button with a couple of cheap wickets including the run out of Ambati Rayudu then maybe they could have rebuilt a little sooner and made it a closer contest with KKR.

The other common theme shared by both sides in their first matches of IPL 2022 was the lack of clarity and cohesion in regards tactics and general thinking.

Ravi Jadeja, an incredibly experienced and capable player, was all over the shop particularly with bat in hand. I prefer to stick to the action on the field of play itself rather than reading the tabloid rumour mill that surrounds the IPL so I'm not really sure why CSK opted to switch captain at the last minute. However, if Saturday's match is anything to go by the rushed decision to do so hasn't given Jadeja, one of CSK's key players, a chance to get used to the role.

The IPL is such a tight and competitive league that teams need to be looking at where they can extract any form of advantage while minimising the impact of any weaknesses. However, CSK seem to have shot themselves in the foot before a ball has even been bowled!

However, they weren't the only ones to do so in the opening game. Despite their terrible start LSG worked themselves into a great position with Gujarat needing 68 from the final 5 overs. The decision to go with one more over from Deepak Hooda was very poor and allowed both Miller and Tewatia to build momentum.

Then in the next over Ravi Bishnoi got reverse swept for 6 off the first ball and completely lost the plot. Given that there were 2 left-handers in at that the time, he was either bowling at the wrong end (the short boundary was on the off-side) or bowling to the wrong field. Either way, as we've said already, the IPL is not a forgiving league and the 39 runs that GT took from those 2 overs effectively won them the game.

So it would appear that there is plenty of room for improvement by both sides as they head into their 2nd match of IPL 2022. Who is going to get their first points on the board?

LSG vs CSK head to head

CSK bowling vs LSG batting

It's difficult to be overly critical of CSK's powerplay bowlers in their first match. No they didn't get an early break through on a pitch that was offering assistance but then again they had so few runs to defend that the batsmen were never under any real pressure. It also goes without saying that Deepak Chahar would have been the perfect player to exploit the kind of new ball conditions we've seen in all the games so far and so his absence is even more pronounced.

It looks like Moeen Ali will be available for the 2nd match of the tournament and that could be a big bonus with both bat and ball. The match-up that CSK will be keen to exploit is to have him bowl at either of LSG's left-handers in the their top order with his record vs Quinton de Kock particularly good.

Of course, on the flip side they'll want to keep him away from the right-handers with KL Rahul averaging 46 at a S/R of 200 in T20 cricket vs the Englishman's off-spin.

de Kock's combined T20 record vs all CSK's current squad

In fact, de Kock's record against most of the LSG bowling attack is very poor so if you're selecting a fantasy team or looking to place some bets he might be a player to avoid if his historical record is anything to go by.

We can then look forward to a great head to head battle in the middle to death overs between 2 players at polar opposite ends of their careers. Ayush Badoni was absolutely brilliant for LSG on his debut, playing the kind of rearguard innings you might expect from an old pro rather than a 22-year-old. In this match he'll come up against the most seasoned campaigner in the history of T20 cricket in Dwayne Bravo whose 3 for 20 against KKR gave CSK just the faintest wiff of an upset.

However, one thing counting against Bravo is is terrible record at the Brabourne Stadium in matches gone by as shown by his figures below.

LSG bowling vs CSK batting

LSG's new ball attack in Avesh Khan and Chameera looked to be effective particularly in the seaming conditions and you'd expect them to put a faltering CSK top order under pressure again. That being said, Avesh Khan's record against this current CSK top order isn't brilliant.

Avesh Khan's combined T20 record against the CSK top order (Gaikwad, Conway, Moeen, Rayudu and Uthappa)

My greater concern for Avesh Khan is him bowling 2 overs at the death. He was great in a Delhi side where he could bowl a couple in the powerplay and perhaps another in the middle, safe in the knowledge that he had players like Rabada and Nortje who are well equipped to close out the innings with overs still up their sleeves. However, against GT he looked short of ideas when the batsmen were coming hard at him in the closing overs and that could be a concern for LSG going forward.

Here he'll be up against a team in CSK who have plenty of power and experience at the back end of the innings in Jadeja and Dhoni plus their record against fellow LSG quick Chameera is also positive.

LSG also then have to factor in the inexperience of Mohsin Khan who was only asked to bowl 2 overs on his debut with KL Rahul then turning to Deepak Hooda to fill in the remaining overs.

The average economy rate for spinners is higher at Brabourne Stadium than any of the other 3 venues being used in the IPL group stage and so again, LSG may need to rethink the balance of their attack for this match as relying on 11 overs of spin might not be the way to go.

All in all, it suggests that if CSK can get off to a better start than they did in their opening game then they should be able to put this LSG bowling attack under significant pressure and if their performance in their opening game is anything to go by then they don't handle those situations very well!

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images from the below sources and used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free

https://www.iplt20.com/
https://pixabay.com/images/search/cricket%20stadium/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en