IPL 2022, KKR vs LSG: 3 player battles to watch out for

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have a chance to make the playoffs if they beat the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their last league game of IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (May 18).

However, a loss could just make the tournament mighty exciting.

And for good reason. LSG will then end with 16 points from 14 games, giving the likes of Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) the chance to climb over them.

Delhi, with their superior net run rate (NRR) in particular, will fancy themselves to make the playoffs over Bangalore, whose negative NRR could cost them.

Back to the big picture then. A win for Kolkata will still keep them in the playoff hunt mathematically at least. Minus the high stakes, what makes this clash worth it is the player battles it offers.

Both IPL teams will look to finish with a flourish, and ahead of the key clash, we take a look at the player battles to watch out for.

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#1 LSG skipper KL Rahul vs Umesh Yadav

KL Rahul seems to have tapered off in the second half of the edition. His last three scores read 0, 8, and 10, with the duck coming against Kolkata.

If there is ever a time to showcase his masterclass as an opener, it would have to be against the Knight Riders.

Bowling to him will be Umesh Yadav, who's made a stellar IPL comeback with 16 wickets from 11 matches in an economy of just 6.93.

His ability to crank up the pace and fox the best of batters with subtle swing makes his battle against KL Rahul an interesting matchup.

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#2 Shreyas Iyer vs Ravi Bishnoi

The KKR skipper will hope to lead from the front. He comes off a slow string of scores as well (6, 6, and 15) of which two were against quality pacers in Dushmantha Chameera and Umran Malik.

Leggie M Ashwin accounted for one of those dismissals.

Despite being the leading run-scorer for Kolkata, Iyer comes into the game with a point to prove in his maiden outing as the skipper of a new team, but making life difficult will be another leggie in Ravi Bishnoi.

The LSG tweaker has never dismissed Iyer in the IPL, and tomorrow might just see a first if he gets one through.

Click here to find out which is the next match in the IPL schedule 2022.

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#3 Andre Russell vs Mohsin Khan

Mohsin Khan has been one of the finds of the season for LSG in IPL 2022. The 23-year-old left-arm quick has 10 wickets from seven matches at an impressive economy rate of 6.08 — one of the best by a seamer this season.

However, he will be bowling to Andre Russell, KKR's most potent weapon, whose success comes against pacers. With his ability to swipe the ball bluntly into the stands, Russell will be quite the challenge for the seamer.