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#Youll #toss #Anukul #Roy #tightlipped #Pathiranas #availability #LSGKKR #clash">‘You’ll only know at the toss’: Anukul Roy tight-lipped about Pathirana’s availability for LSG-KKR clash Lucknow Super Giants is still trying to find its best combination but feels it is one match away from getting its IPL 2026 campaign going, spin bowling coach Carl Crowe said here on Saturday.
Super Giants, currently ninth in the standings, have changed their batting line-up on multiple occasions in seven games so far. Captain Rishabh Pant opened in their first game with Mitchell Marsh before Aiden Markram was given that role. Ayush Badoni has opened with Marsh in the last couple of games.
“I think in terms of one of those changes, it was very much a match-up. In the modern game, you try and recognise what the options are going to be and plan accordingly,” Crowe explained on the eve of LSG’s fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders at the BRSABV Ekana Stadium.
“When you’re not playing quite so well, you’re trying to find that perfect match-up, but at the same time stability is vitally important,” he added. “It’s about still trying to find the best combination for us, and when you do find that combination, you try to stick with it for as long as possible.”
Crowe said the LSG batters are aware of their shortcomings in the first half of the league stage and are working hard to overcome them. “We are one match away from smashing it and getting to where we need to be,” the coach said.
The contest will be played on a black-soil pitch – a surface that will be used for the first time this season. However, Crowe said it doesn’t matter which surface the game is played on.
“So, it’s black soil tomorrow, I believe. From a foreign perspective – and I know this is probably more of a coach’s view – sometimes we can make a bit too much of the conditions before the game, whether it’s red soil, black soil or mixed.
“If you come in with a preconceived idea of how a certain pitch is going to play, you limit your plan,” Crowe said.
Meanwhile, KKR’s Anukul Roy said that the team’s first win last week has boosted players’ confidence. “Whatever we are trying to do, we haven’t been able to do up to the mark. Results can go up and down. We are trying to win every game possible from here,” Roy said.
When quizzed whether Matheesha Pathirana will be available for the game, the youngster remained tight-lipped. “He has been practicing with us for the last week. You’ll only know at the toss tomorrow if he’s playing or not,” Roy said.
Published on Apr 25, 2026
Lucknow Super Giants is still trying to find its best combination but feels it is…
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#IPL #Gujarat #Titans #holds #nerve #edge #Delhi #Capitals #thriller">DC vs GT IPL 2026: Gujarat Titans holds its nerve to edge out Delhi Capitals in last over thriller
High tension permeated the cool air at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Wednesday as Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans engaged in a high-scoring cliffhanger in the Indian Premier League. Twists and turns unfolded at breakneck speed, but Shubman Gill’s Titans prevailed by one run in the end. In response to GT’s 210 for four, Capitals finished on 209 for eight.
With two runs required off the final ball, David Miller swung hard at a short ball by Prasidh Krishna. But he failed to make contact, and as he and Kuldeep Yadav scampered for a single, the latter was found short at the striker’s end after wicketkeeper Jos Buttler hit the stumps. Off the penultimate ball, Miller had pulled Prasidh towards fine-leg and had an easy run on offer, but he chose to stay at his end and face the final ball. Miller may rue that decision in hindsight.
For GT, Rashid Khan was sensational with figures of 4-0-17-3. Gill, Buttler and Washington Sundar also played their roles with fine half-centuries earlier in the evening.
That DC came this close was down to K.L. Rahul’s 92 and Miller’s late heroics. The hosts appeared to have run out of steam with 36 runs to get off the last two overs and four wickets in hand. But Miller, having retired hurt at the start of the 14th over due to a hand injury before coming back in the 17th over, hadn’t resigned to that idea. The southpaw walloped Mohammed Siraj for two sixes and a four in the penultimate over, whittling down the requirement to 13 off six balls.
In a game where runs were aplenty, Rashid lent a decisive hand with crucial strikes. The ace Afghanistan leggie had Nitish Rana caught at long-off thanks to an excellent grab by B. Sai Sudharsan in the 10th over, and then cleaned up the in-form Sameer Rizvi with a masterful wrong ’un.
A little later, Axar Patel became Rashid’s third victim of the night. It eventually condemned DC to defeat by the narrowest of margins.
Published on Apr 08, 2026
High tension permeated the cool air at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Wednesday as Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans engaged in a high-scoring cliffhanger in the Indian Premier League. Twists and turns unfolded at breakneck speed, but Shubman Gill’s Titans prevailed by one run in the end. In response to GT’s 210 for four, Capitals finished on 209 for eight.
With two runs required off the final ball, David Miller swung hard at a short ball by Prasidh Krishna. But he failed to make contact, and as he and Kuldeep Yadav scampered for a single, the latter was found short at the striker’s end after wicketkeeper Jos Buttler hit the stumps. Off the penultimate ball, Miller had pulled Prasidh towards fine-leg and had an easy run on offer, but he chose to stay at his end and face the final ball. Miller may rue that decision in hindsight.
For GT, Rashid Khan was sensational with figures of 4-0-17-3. Gill, Buttler and Washington Sundar also played their roles with fine half-centuries earlier in the evening.
That DC came this close was down to K.L. Rahul’s 92 and Miller’s late heroics. The hosts appeared to have run out of steam with 36 runs to get off the last two overs and four wickets in hand. But Miller, having retired hurt at the start of the 14th over due to a hand injury before coming back in the 17th over, hadn’t resigned to that idea. The southpaw walloped Mohammed Siraj for two sixes and a four in the penultimate over, whittling down the requirement to 13 off six balls.
In a game where runs were aplenty, Rashid lent a decisive hand with crucial strikes. The ace Afghanistan leggie had Nitish Rana caught at long-off thanks to an excellent grab by B. Sai Sudharsan in the 10th over, and then cleaned up the in-form Sameer Rizvi with a masterful wrong ’un.
A little later, Axar Patel became Rashid’s third victim of the night. It eventually condemned DC to defeat by the narrowest of margins.
Published on Apr 08, 2026
High tension permeated the cool air at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Wednesday as…