Lucknow Super Giants take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 38 of IPL 2026 at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday, April 26.
This is not just a must-win game for both sides. For LSG, it is approaching last-chance territory. The math is becoming brutal: with six games left after this one, they need to win five of them just to touch 14 points, which may not even be enough in a 10-team format. KKR’s situation is even more precarious; they need to win all seven of their remaining matches to reach 17 points, and even one more loss puts them at a maximum of 15 points, which historically has rarely been enough.
A match between ninth and tenth place sounds like a low-stakes encounter. It is the opposite. Whoever loses tonight can almost certainly start planning for next season.
LSG vs KKR Match 38 Direct Odds
LSG enters as marginal home favorites. They have the better overall record in this rivalry, a home advantage at Ekana, and a bowling attack in Mohammed Shami, Mayank Yadav, and Prince Yadav that can exploit the surface’s early pace and spin. But they are on a four-match losing streak, and their batting has been historically unreliable this season.
| Team | Win Probability | Decimal Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Lucknow Super Giants | 52–56% | 1.80 – 1.95 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 44–48% | 2.00 – 2.25 |
LSG are backed at 1.80–1.95, a narrow home advantage built on the Ekana surface’s spin-friendliness, which suits Digvesh Rathi, Mohsin Khan, and Shami’s variations. Mitchell Marsh has been their most reliable batter and remains a constant threat.
KKR offer value at 2.00–2.25 for those who back Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine to replicate their magic on a surface that grips for spinners. KKR’s win over RR showed their twin spinners can choke any batting lineup into submission when conditions are right. At Ekana, those conditions exist. They also won the only previous encounter at this ground.
LSG vs KKR Match 38 Info Table
| Match | Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders |
|---|---|
| Match Number | IPL 2026 Match 38 |
| Date & Time | Sunday, April 26, 2026, 7:30 PM IST |
| Venue | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| LSG Captain | Rishabh Pant |
| KKR Captain | Ajinkya Rahane |
| Live Streaming | JioHotstar App & Website |
| TV Telecast | Star Sports Network |
| Points Table | LSG: 9th (4 pts, 2W–5L) / KKR: 10th (3 pts, 1W–5L–1NR) |
LSG vs KKR Toss Prediction Odds
The Ekana Cricket Stadium is one of the more nuanced surfaces in the IPL. It is not a flat batting paradise. The pitch here tends to be slow and two-paced, giving spinners real purchase from the middle overs and making it difficult for new batters to hit through the line from the start.
Teams batting second have won six of eight matches at this venue in the recent IPL seasons, making the chasing advantage significant here. With a 7:30 PM evening start, dew builds up in the second innings at Lucknow, making it easier for batters to play their shots and harder for spinners to grip the ball, exactly the kind of conditions that favor chasing teams.
Teams winning the toss have emerged victorious 14 times in Lucknow across 22 IPL matches, highlighting the significance of winning the toss at this venue.
| Factor | Impact |
|---|---|
| Average First Innings Score (Ekana, IPL recent) | ~160 |
| Chasing Win Rate (Ekana, recent IPL seasons) | ~75% (6 of 8 matches) |
| Surface Character | Slow, two-paced; spin-friendly in middle overs; hard-length pacers effective early |
| Dew Factor | Significant by the 12th over of the second innings |
| Spinner Influence | High in the first innings; reduced in the dew-affected second innings |
| Weather Forecast | Warm and humid, 30–35°C; no rain expected |
| Expected Toss Decision | Bowl First |
Toss Prediction: Both Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane will want to bowl first. The chasing advantage at Ekana is not just a preference; it is close to a necessity. Dew in the evening reduces the effectiveness of both teams’ spin attacks in the second innings, giving the chasing side’s batters a much easier time. In the two matches played at Ekana this season, both teams have preferred to bowl first. Expect that trend to continue.
LSG vs KKR Players Odds
The individual battles in this match carry the weight of seasons on the line. Varun Chakravarthy, against Rishabh Pant, the spinner who just took 200 T20 wickets against the captain, is struggling with form and averaging under 20 this IPL. Mitchell Marsh against Narine, the all-rounder who has been LSG’s lone consistent contributor against the mystery spinner who has been KKR’s best bowler. Mohammed Shami against Ajinkya Rahane, two senior players on opposite sides of contrasting career moments. These are the matchups that will define which team gets to stay alive.
Lucknow Super Giants Key Players
| Player | Role | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Marsh | Opening Batsman / All-rounder | Marsh has been LSG’s most reliable batter this season. His 55 off 41 against RR was the one innings that kept LSG competitive in a match they ultimately lost. He averages 51.5 against RR in his career at Ekana and has scored 206 runs at 51.5 specifically in his head-to-head against the Royals. |
| Mohammed Shami | Pacer | Shami has been LSG’s best bowler this season, taking multiple wickets in their two wins and maintaining the tightest economy among their pace options. His spell of 2/9 in four overs against SRH in LSG’s first win was an example of what he can do when conditions help him. |
| Prince Yadav | Pacer | The Purple Cap leader earlier in the season, Prince has 13 wickets in seven matches and has been LSG’s surprise bowling package. His ability to generate pace and swing at the death, combined with a clever short ball, gives LSG a second dimension in the bowling attack beyond Shami. On a pitch where hitting is not easy, Prince’s ability to dry up runs in the middle overs has been key. |
| Digvesh Rathi | Spinner | Rathi made his name last season with decisive middle-overs contributions, and he gives LSG a spin option in conditions at Ekana that genuinely support finger-spin. |
| Rishabh Pant | Captain / Wicketkeeper / Batsman | Pant’s season has been a deep personal disappointment. He has now recorded 12 ducks across his T20 career from 211 innings, seven of which have come in the IPL. The most recent was against RR, where his reckless shot off Nandre Burger immediately triggered a collapse. |
Kolkata Knight Riders Key Players
| Player | Role | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Varun Chakravarthy | Mystery Spinner | The defining bowler of KKR’s title win in 2024, Chakravarthy, has been building toward his best in IPL 2026. His 3/14 against RR in the first win, which also brought up his 200th T20 wicket, showed exactly what he can produce when the surface assists him. |
| Sunil Narine | All-rounder | Narine’s spell of 2/26 against RR was his best of the season, and he and Chakravarthy in tandem are what make KKR dangerous on any surface that helps spin. |
| Rinku Singh | Middle-Order Batsman | Rinku’s unbeaten 53 off 34 against RR was his first fifty since 2023, and it was exactly the kind of match-winning innings that KKR’s lower middle order had been missing all season. |
| Cameron Green | All-rounder / Batsman | Green provides KKR with pace in the death overs and gives their batting lineup an overseas power option that opponents must plan for. He has been expensive in some games. |
| Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Batsman | Raghuvanshi has been KKR’s most consistent batter this season with 110 runs in seven innings, making him the top run-scorer among KKR’s batting lineup. |
Player to Watch: Varun Chakravarthy versus Rishabh Pant is the contest this entire match pivots on. Chakravarthy is KKR’s most dangerous bowler and has just hit a form peak. Pant is LSG’s captain and most match-winning batting talent, but he is in historically poor form, has struggled against spin throughout this season, and is averaging well under 20 in IPL 2026. When Chakravarthy gets Pant cheaply in the middle overs, LSG’s chase or defence collapses almost immediately, as it has done four times already this season. If Pant works out Chakravarthy’s variations and plays a captain’s knock tonight, LSG stays in the tournament.
LSG vs KKR Match Prediction — Who Will Win
Lucknow Super Giants are predicted to win this encounter.
This is a close call between two teams who have struggled equally badly in IPL 2026. But LSG’s home advantage at Ekana, a bowling attack that is marginally more dangerous on this surface than KKR’s, and Marsh’s reliability with the bat give them the edge. They also have the desperation factor; four straight losses have pushed LSG to the edge, and a home crowd that has been waiting for results.
Why LSG Holds the Edge
The Ekana surface is made for Mohammed Shami. He is the best new-ball swing bowler in this fixture, and when he gets movement in the first three overs, the top order tends to crumble. KKR’s top order has been their biggest problem all season; their captain Rahane, went for a two-ball duck in the very first over against RR, and Tim Seifert was out first ball to Jofra Archer. Against Shami, that vulnerability becomes even more pronounced.
LSG are at home at Ekana, and the crowd for a must-win game will be significant. Over 21,900 fans have already shown interest in this match on the ticketing platforms. A loud home crowd in a high-pressure evening game tends to shift the psychological balance, particularly against a KKR top order that has shown fragility under pressure all season.
Mayank Yadav’s pace is a genuine factor on this pitch. When Mayank bowls at 150 kmph on a surface that is slower and helps his bouncer, opposition batters find it very difficult to time their pull shots. KKR’s batters have not faced genuine express pace yet this season, and Mayank at Ekana in the first six overs could cause early damage.
LSG led this head-to-head 4–2, and three of their four wins came by margins of 4 runs or fewer, showing this rivalry consistently produces tight finishes that tend to go LSG’s way. Even when KKR has pushed them hard, LSG has found ways to win.
KKR’s Challenges
KKR’s batting lineup has been fundamentally broken for most of this season. Their top order, Seifert, Rahane, and Raghuvanshi, has collapsed repeatedly, and the game has been left to Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy to rescue them from impossible positions. That happened against RR. Doing it again, on the road, against a better bowling attack, is asking too much.
Narine and Chakravarthy are KKR’s best bet with the ball, but the dew at Ekana in the second innings significantly reduces their effectiveness. If LSG win the toss and bowl, KKR must post a competitive total in the first innings on a slow pitch without dew assistance. That requires their top order to bat well. It has not done so in any of their seven games.
LSG are still the only side yet to register a 200-plus score this season, which shows how much their batting has struggled. But they only need to post around 155–165 at Ekana on this surface to give their bowling attack a competitive total to defend. That is more achievable than what KKR needs to win.
KKR have played one game on the road this season, against LSG at Eden Gardens in an earlier encounter, and lost. Away from has been a consistent issue for both their batting and bowling units. The Ekana surface is nothing like Eden Gardens, and the adjustment required from their spinners to operate on a pitch that assists them differently could take an over or two that this match simply does not afford.
LSG vs KKR Head to Head (Overall Head to Head Data)
KKR and LSG have faced each other seven times in the IPL, with LSG winning five of those matches. It is a rivalry dominated by narrow margins; three of LSG’s wins have come by four runs or fewer. The fixture consistently produces finishes that go down to the last over and sometimes the last ball.
LSG lead 4–2 in completed matches at Eden Gardens, KKR’s own home ground, which tells you how fearless LSG have been on the road. At Ekana, the only previous meeting between the two teams saw KKR win; they chased 162 with eight wickets and 4.2 overs to spare in IPL 2024.
The two biggest batting performances in this rivalry both belong to LSG. Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 140 off 70 balls is the highest individual score in this fixture’s history, and led LSG to a 2-run win. The most recent IPL 2025 meeting at Eden Gardens saw LSG post 238/3 in an astonishing chase, with Nicholas Pooran’s 87 off 36 balls and Mitchell Marsh’s 81 setting the template, before KKR fell 4 runs short in a 472-run aggregate thriller.
| Statistic | Record |
|---|---|
| Total Matches Played | 7 |
| LSG Wins | 5 |
| KKR Wins | 2 |
| No Result | 0 |
| LSG Highest Total in Rivalry | 238/3 (IPL 2025, Eden Gardens) |
| KKR Highest Total in Rivalry | 235 |
| Record at Ekana (LSG home) | KKR won the only meeting (IPL 2024) |
| Most Recent Meeting (IPL 2025) | LSG won by 4 runs (Eden Gardens) |
| Highest Individual Score in Rivalry | Quinton de Kock, 140* (LSG, IPL 2022) |
| Top Wicket-taker (LSG) | Mohsin Khan (6 wickets) |
| Top Wicket-taker (KKR) | Sunil Narine (5 wickets) |
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Final Verdict
LSG vs KKR Match 38 at Ekana Stadium is a fixture that carries the weight of two seasons that have gone badly wrong. The two teams at the bottom of the table, both desperate, both capable of being competitive on their day, face each other with their tournament lives on the line.
LSG hold the advantage because they are at home, their bowling attack is better suited to this surface, and Marsh gives them a batter reliable enough to anchor a chase or a first-innings score. KKR’s twin spinners are dangerous on any surface, but the dew factor at Ekana in the evening neutralizes much of their advantage in the second innings.
Both teams’ batting has been unreliable all season. The match is likely to produce a sub-170 total in the first innings, and the team that bowls first and puts together a disciplined performance with the bat in the second will edge through. Back LSG at home, with the full awareness that KKR’s spinners on this surface, particularly Chakravarthy, are capable of turning this game in 10 explosive deliveries.
Expect a low-scoring, tension-filled evening at Ekana. Par score here sits around 155–170 for the first innings. Spinners from both sides will operate through overs 7–16 on a surface that rewards patience and smart cricket. Back LSG to survive, just.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Betting involves financial risk. Please gamble responsibly.
