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Mohammed Siraj gave Bangalore an ideal start as Kyle Mayers chopped on to his stumps. Wayne Parnell dealt double blows to Lucknow in the fourth over, having Deepak Hooda nick behind a cutter to Dinesh Karthik and then forcing Krunal Pandya to edge off an outswinger to the keeper.

Kohli was at his aggressive best in attacking pacers in power-play while making 61 off 44 balls. On the other hand, Du Plessis was at 33 off 31 balls and looked scratchy but he found his timing to be unbeaten on 79 from 46 deliveries while Maxwell smacked 59 off just 29 balls as the crowd was treated to some scintillating strokeplay.

While Lucknow beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in their last game, Bangalore were given a 81-run thrashing at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders. In the head-to-head record, Bangalore lead Lucknow 2-0. After winning the toss, Rahul said pacer Mark Wood comes in for Romario Shepherd, with Yash Thakur too missing out.

Krunal was undoubtedly the pick of the bowlers for Lucknow, constantly attacking the stumps to pick a tidy 3-18 in his four overs. He then chipped in with 34 off 23 balls and shared a 55-run partnership off 38 balls for the third wicket with captain K.L. Rahul, who top-scored with 35, to complete a chase of 122 with four overs to spare.

Pandya then chipped in with 34 off 23 balls and shared a 55-run partnership off 38 balls for the third wicket with captain K.L. Rahul, who top-scored with 35, to complete chase of 122 with four overs to spare and take the side to a comfortable five-wicket victory. Their second victory at home meant Lucknow are the new table-toppers in the ten-team competition.

Lucknow drew first blood in the third over as Mayank Agarwal went for an uppish drive against Krunal, but he was undone by the flight and ended up giving a tame chip to cover. Anmolpreet Singh got some boundaries against spinners as well as Thakur with a lovely punch, sweep and chip over mid-off.

Both teams enter Friday's match after losses in their last game. While Hyderabad were thrashed by Rajasthan Royals by 72 runs, Lucknow suffered a 12-run defeat to Chennai Super Kings. "The wicket looks quite dry. Hopefully, we can put up a good total. Ideally, we will get to our first win. Everyone seems in good spirits and full of energy. The guys are looking excited. Since we are batting first, Anmolpreet Singh will start," said Markram.

After Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway shared a 110-run opening stand while Ambati Rayudu and captain M.S. Dhoni, along with Moeen and Shivam Dube, propelled CSK to reach 217/7, Kyle Mayers had threatened to steal their thunder with a 22-ball 53. His efforts meant Lucknow reached 73/0 in five overs. But Moeen and Santner came in as LSG slipped to 82/3 in the eighth over.

Both Gaikwad (57) and Conway (47) played some outstanding shots to smash 79 runs in the Power-play, which became CSK's highest-ever Powerplay score at Chepauk, beating the previous best of 75. After taking CSK to 100 in eight overs, the duo fell in quick succession. But the rest of the batting order ensured CSK went past 200, especially with Dhoni treating the crowd to a short yet sparking innings in the final over.

After winning the toss, Rahul said Jaydev Unadkat goes out and Yash Thakur comes into the playing eleven, making it the lone change from their 50-run win over Delhi Capitals at home. "We want to know what we are chasing. It was a really good performance against DC, all parts of the game we did well. We need to turn up again today and better those performances."