Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants in Match 13 of IPL 2025, being played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Explaining the decision, Iyer said, “It’s a new ground, new pitch so we are going to chase. The players have the freedom to express themselves. You have to play the situation and the important goal is to win.” He also confirmed Lockie Ferguson’s inclusion in the playing XI, with the fast bowler receiving his debut cap earlier.
Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, said he too would’ve preferred to bowl but is happy to bat first. “There are a lot of people who have come to support us, we are definitely going to give our best,” Pant added.
The match is set to be a closely contested one on a red-soil pitch, expected to assist both seamers and spinners. Punjab Kings are riding high on confidence after scoring 243 in their opener against Gujarat Titans, with standout performances from Iyer, Priyansh Arya, and Shashank Singh.
Lucknow too have momentum on their side after a strong performance against SRH. Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh are in sublime form, although the team will hope their middle-order and skipper Pant step up tonight.
Playing XIs:
Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
