The 68th match of IPL 2026 is to be played today i.e. Saturday, May 23 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. In this match, the teams of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) will face each other. According to Indian time, this match will start at 7:30 pm, while both captains Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer will step on the field for the toss at 7:00 pm. Lucknow team is already out of the playoff race, so today they will come without any pressure with the intention of spoiling the game of Punjab. On the other hand, for Punjab Kings, who have lost 6 consecutive matches, it is important to register a win today at any cost to keep their playoff hopes alive. Ekana Stadium pitch report: Batsman or bowler, who will get help? Pitch number 5 of Ekana Stadium will be used for this important match. This pitch has been prepared from mixed soil, which means that there will be equal opportunities for both batsmen and bowlers. In the 5 regular matches played on Lucknow grounds this season, the chasing teams have had the upper hand and have maintained a 3-2 lead over the teams batting first. Talking about the weather, the maximum temperature of Lucknow on Saturday is expected to be around 35 degrees Celsius and there is no forecast of rain. In such a situation, the decision to choose bowling (fielding) first can be a profitable deal for the captain who wins the toss. IPL Records of Ekana Stadium A total of 28 IPL matches have been played so far at this ground in Lucknow, where the statistics seem to be slightly tilted in favor of the chasing team: Total matches: 28 Win while batting first: 12 matches (42.86%) Win while chasing the target: 15 matches (53.57%) Percentage of winning the match after winning the toss: 17 matches (60.71%) Toss Percentage of matches won by losing: 10 matches (35.71%) Matches ended without result: 1 match (3.57%) Highest Score: 235/6 Lowest Score: 108 Highest score while chasing: 177/2 Average runs per wicket: 27.95 Average run rate per over: 8.79 Average score batting first: 174.04 Head to Head (LSG) vs PBKS Head to Head): Punjab has a slight lead. Whenever there has been a match between Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings, there has been a fierce competition. Both the teams have played against each other 7 times so far in IPL history. Out of these 7 matches, Punjab Kings have won 4 times, while Lucknow has won 3 matches. Punjab has achieved this lead in this season, when they defeated Lucknow by a huge margin of 54 runs in the first match between the two teams. Today it will be interesting to see whether Rishabh Pant’s captaincy Lucknow takes revenge or Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab remains in the playoff race. Full squads of both teams Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (captain/wicketkeeper), Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Akash Maharaj Singh, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mukul Chaudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Himmat Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Mohammed Shami, Aiden Markram, George Linde, Anrich Nortje, Mathieu Bretzke, Arjun Tendulkar, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Naman Tiwari, Avesh Khan. Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Cooper Connolly, Suryansh Shedge, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey, Ben Dwarshuis, Marco Jensen, Mitchell Owen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Nehal Vadhera, Harnoor Singh, Payla Avinash, Vishal Nishad.
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