Hyderabad vs Lucknow player battles: Bhuvneshwar Kumar keen to extend supremacy over Manish Pandey

Team Hyderabad will take on Team Lucknow in Match 12 of Indian T20 League 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday, April 4. The match will start at 7:30 PM IST.

While Lucknow have picked up a win and defeat from their opening games of the latest campaign, Hyderabad enter the tie on the back of a 61-run loss to Rajasthan.

This will be the first Hyderabad vs Lucknow clash in the Indian T20 League and upon closer inspection of the team rosters, KL Rahul’s Lucknow will start as favourites to win.

Hyderabad vs Lucknow key player battles

Kane Williamson vs Avesh Khan

For a player of his calibre, Kane Williamson’s indifferent start to the Indian T20 League 2022 campaign is a bane for Hyderabad. The New Zealand star, with 1,887 in 64 career matches, needs to rediscover his run-scoring touch to propel the 2016 champions back to winning ways.

And, what way to achieve that when taking on a certain Avesh Khan. The Lucknow bowler has three wickets in two games this season, and will aim to continue the momentum against a lacklustre Hyderabad. As far as head-to-head goes, Avesh has leaked 21 runs in 15 deliveries to Kane Williamson and the latter will certainly be optimistic about the track record heading into Monday’s fixture.

Manish Pandey vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar

If there is one key battle that could end up in Hyderabad’s favour, it is Manish Pandey’s battle against Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

In six head-to-head meetings, Pandey has hit just 20 runs off 19 deliveries while being dismissed on four occasions. As one of the top homegrown batters in the Indian T20 League, Manish Pandey’s record against Bhuvneshwar Kumar seems a bit appalling but come Monday, the former will hope to play a top knock that adds to his tally of 3,571 runs in 156 matches.

Featured photo: AFP / ISHARA S. KODIKARA / NOAH SEELAM