Having suffered losses in their previous encounters, both Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings will aim for an improved all-round effort when they face-off in a league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Lucknow on Saturday.

The KL Rahul-led LSG lost their opening game to Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, and back in action after exactly a week’s gap, the Lucknow franchise will hope for a winning start at home.

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Skipper Rahul, who decided to don the big gloves keeping the upcoming T20 World Cup in mind, made 58 in his comeback game and would be looking to build on that. He would however, expect similar performances from the likes of his opening partner Quinton de Kock, who failed to deliver in the first match.

Having reached the play-offs in both their initial couple of seasons, the Lucknow side will be banking on the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, and Krunal Pandya to deliver with the bat down the order.

Krunal, however, came good with his left-arm spin in the first match, but he hardly got any support from the other bowlers. The absence of Mark Wood and David Willey has hurt the Lucknow franchise, and the pace battery comprising the likes of Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Yash Thakur will be expected to compensate for the loss.

On the other hand, the Punjab Kings began on a confident note at home against the Delhi Capitals but lost out to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their second game. As such, the Shikhar Dhawan-led side will look to take advantage of the LSG’s poor start and grab those points to gain an early momentum in the tournament.

The Punjab Kings management will expect more aggression from the batters, especially the top order during the power play, and for that Jonny Bairstow must mend his ways with the bat. The Englishman failed to impress in the first two outings.

Dhawan, who only plays IPL to IPL, also needs to up the ante, and go after the bowlers during the powerplay overs. He himself admitted to batting a bit “slowly” against RCB.

Prabhsimran Singh, who came of age last season, will also look to capitalise on his starts.

Vice-captain Jitesh Sharma, who is in the running for a T20 World Cup berth, also will be expected to carry the team’s responsibilities with his power-hitting abilities, to convince the national selectors.

All-rounder Sam Curran has grabbed the opportunity to bat higher up the order in both the games, but will also be expected to pick wickets with his left-arm seam bowling.

The Punjab Kings’ pace attack comprising the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel, along with Curran boasts of the variety in their line-up but will be expected to compliment one another. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar has been impressive while leg-spinner Rahul Chahar needs to up his game.