Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders Prediction & Match Preview – IPL 2026
Match summary
Our IPL 2026 preview of Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Ekana Stadium: likely XIs, pitch and weather notes, plus our pick.
Match details
| Match | Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 38th Match |
|---|---|
| Series | Indian Premier League 2026 |
| Date | 26 Apr 2026 |
| Start time | 7:30 pm local |
| Venue | Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| Status | Played |
| Our pick | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Toss pick | Kolkata Knight Riders |
Matches in this series
Match preview
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.
The Ekana Stadium is known for a slow, spin-friendly pitch that makes batting hard work. Bounce is low to medium and the surface slows as the game goes on, so spinners matter in the middle overs. Seamers do best with cutters and variations rather than pace. Batters need time to settle, scores of 140–160 are normally competitive in T20s, and teams tend to bat first, although dew can help chasers at night.
The evening should be warm and mostly comfortable, with temperatures of around 30–33°C at the start, falling to about 27–29°C later. Skies are expected to be partly cloudy to mostly clear with no significant chance of rain. Humidity may rise a little after sunset.
Lucknow Super Giants
Our preview leans towards Lucknow Super Giants at home on a slow surface, with Kolkata expected to win the toss.
Toss pick: Kolkata Knight Riders
FAQ
When is Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders?
The 38th match of IPL 2026 is on Sunday 26 April 2026 at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, with a 7:30 pm local start.
Who does our preview pick?
Our preview picks Lucknow Super Giants to win, with Kolkata Knight Riders expected to win the toss.
Does the pitch favour spin?
Yes. The Ekana surface is slow and tends to help spinners, especially in the middle overs.
Probable XIs
Expected line-ups from our preview. c = captain, wk = wicketkeeper.
Lucknow Super Giants
- Aiden Markram
- Mitchell Marsh
- Rishabh Pantc, wk
- Nicholas Pooran
- Ayush Badoni
- Mukul Choudhary
- Mohammed Shami
- Avesh Khan
- Prince Yadav
- Manimaran Siddharth
- Mohsin Khan
Kolkata Knight Riders
- Ajinkya Rahanec
- Tim Seifertwk
- Cameron Green
- Rovman Powell
- Rinku Singh
- Sunil Narine
- Ramandeep Singh
- Anukul Roy
- Vaibhav Arora
- Kartik Tyagi
- Varun Chakaravarthy
Head-to-head
Earlier meetings of Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders that we covered.