Lucknow Super Giants host Kolkata Knight Riders in the 38th match of IPL 2026 on Sunday 26 April. The Ekana Stadium surface tends to reward patience, and the contest may well be decided by who controls the middle overs.
Lucknow’s likely XI is built around Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, captain Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni, with Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan in the pace group. Kolkata, captained by Ajinkya Rahane, have Tim Seifert, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell and Rinku Singh in the batting, while Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy give them a strong spin pairing.
Batting first is seen as a slight advantage if a side can reach 165 or more, and the powerplay will be important because early wickets make scoring harder later. Dew may help the chasing team a little. Our preview leans towards Lucknow Super Giants.
