Match 40 of the 2025 Indian Premier League season brings us a crucial top-of-the-table clash between the formidable Delhi Capitals and a fearless Lucknow Super Giants side at the Ekana Stadium on April 22.
For the game, here are our preview and predictions.
Five teams are sitting on 10 points each, with both DC and LSG part of the group. However, like every season, net run rate will prove to be the deciding factor in a tight contest, and it is due to net run rate that the Capitals find themselves in second, with the Super Giants three places below them.
Despite their injury struggles, LSG have done extremely well to win five out of their eight games so far. Much like the Gujarat Titans, they rely heavily on their batters to set the game up for their relatively weak bowling attack. While Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, and Nicholas Pooran have been relied upon to score big, the likes of Ayush Badoni, David Miller, and Abdul Samad have also chipped in with valuable contributions down the order in recent outings.
Even LSG’s bowlers have come to the party in recent games. Against the Rajasthan Royals, case in point, they were planning to bring in Mayank Yadav as the Impact Sub, but poor contributions with the bat from Marsh (4) and Pooran (11) forced them to use that chip on Ayush Badoni in the first innings itself. Badoni’s 34-ball 50 proved enough for the LSG bowlers to get two points in the end, with a quality 20th over from Avesh Khan ensuring they capitalised on RR’s brain-fade batting on the night.
DC, on the other hand, have lost two of their last three games after starting the season with four wins on the trot. The loss of vice-captain Faf du Plessis to injury, as well as opener Jake Fraser-McGurk’s poor form, has impacted their batting. Barring KL Rahul (266 runs) and Tristan Stubbs (183 runs), none of their batters have shown consistency, though Abishek Porel, their third-highest run-getter, is now sitting on 174 runs, while both Karun Nair and captain Axar Patel have also looked in good nick recently.
In terms of bowling, DC’s pace attack has been under fire of late, with Australian pacer Mitchell Starc blowing hot and cold and Mukesh Kumar and Mohit Sharma having a sluggish campaign so far. There is still no news on the availability of death-bowling specialist T Natarajan, whose yorkers would have come in handy for DC. On the spin side of things, Kuldeep Yadav is having a season and a half. Head and shoulders above every other DC bowler, he has been leading the spin attack while Axar Patel and Vipraj Nigam have struggled with form.
Looking ahead to this game, it promises to be a mouth-watering clash between two closely matched sides. The two treated us to one of the best games of the tournament in Vizag earlier this season; expect nothing less from this encounter.
On paper, there’s very little to choose between the two, but the momentum is currently with LSG, who have won four of their last five matches. Moreover, given how much Prasidh Krishna’s express pace troubled the DC batters last time out, LSG won’t get a better chance to let Mayank Yadav loose.
Fantasy XI: Nicholas Pooran (c), Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (vc), Mitchell Marsh, Axar Patel, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Yadav
Venue: Ekana Stadium, Lucknow
Winners Prediction: Lucknow Super Giants
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