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The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have started IPL 2023 on a fantastic note, winning two of their first three games. The franchise had an impressive debut season last year, finishing third in the points table.
They won their opening game at home by a comfortable 50-run margin and had another strong performance at home, beating the Sunrisers Hyderabad with five wickets and four overs to spare.
In between their two wins, LSG lost a close contest to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai by 12 runs. However, they are still at the top of the table as things currently stand, with two wins from three matches and a stupendous net run rate.
While it is still early in the tournament, the Super Giants' dominance in their two home games at the Ekana Cricket Stadium suggests that the side could make the ground a fortress.
The Ekana Stadium is the third-largest stadium in India, with a bigger boundary size (70m+) compared to most other stadiums.
Lucknow is one of the few venues where the usual win-toss-and-chase method doesn't work, as teams batting first have won more matches. Over the last six T20Is, the team batting first has won five, with the team chasing only once.
The average score is also considerably lower than other venues across the country, with an average first-innings score of 151 and an average second-innings score of 126. Even in the ongoing IPL, three of the four scores have been below 150, with the Lucknow Super Giants conceding just 132 on average in their two matches.
Considering the nature of the pitch and the ground in general, let us look at three reasons why LSG can make the Ekana Cricket Stadium a fortress in IPL 2023.
The pitch and ground dimensions being spinner-friendly
The Lucknow Super Giants boast one of the best spin attacks in the competition in the quartet of Ravi Bishnoi, Krunal Pandya, Amit Mishra, and Krishnappa Gowtham. There is also good variety as each one has a different bowling style from the other.
The pitches in the first two matches at Lucknow have shown a tendency to help spinners with sharp turn and uneven bounce. With the ground dimensions being big, the LSG spinners should prosper at home.
The Lucknow spinners have picked up eight wickets in 20 overs, conceding just 111 runs at an average of 14 and an economy of just 5.50 runs per over at home.
Removes toss factor and the usual chasing advantage
T20 matches often come down to teams winning the toss and having a decided advantage during the match. At times, it has also been seen in Asian conditions that chasing a target can be highly advantageous, thanks to smaller grounds or the dew factor.
However, the Ekana Cricket Stadium has been one of the few venues where the toss hasn't had much bearing on the match result. In the T20I's played at Lucknow, the team winning the toss has won just two of their six matches. It is also one of the few venues where the team batting first has a better record than the one chasing.
Even in the ongoing IPL, the two matches played at Lucknow have neither been decided at the toss nor by batting first or second. Each instance has seen a 50% win-loss record.
This level playing field will help LSG plan better for the conditions at home and select a settled playing XI accordingly.
Low average scores help LSG's death bowling frailties
Despite getting off to a great start with victories in two fo their first three games, the Lucknow Super Giants haven't been tested in the final overs of the innings. LSG's pace attack has a good variety in terms of style and speed, with the likes of Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Jaydev Unadkat, and Yash Thakur.
However, none of the pacers are death-over specialists and can be expensive on occasion, as seen in the match against the Chennai Super Kings in Chennai. The low-scoring nature of the Lucknow pitch masks this liability, as the spinners usually pick up wickets leading up to the end overs.
The pitch being two-paced and uneven, along with the bigger ground size, allows the Lucknow pacers to use their slower deliveries effectively at home.
