Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 22 (ANI): The clash between hosts Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow will mark the clash between the best opening pair of the competition in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and a highly-skilled LSG bowling line-up, which has been exceptional in containing the run-scoring madness in an ever-evolving environment of T20 cricket.

LSG, placed at ninth spot with two wins and four losses, will continue their fight for survival in the tournament, while Rajasthan, placed at fourth spot with four wins and two losses, will be aiming to take one step further in their aim to reach the playoffs.

The RR opening pair of Sooryavanshi (246 runs in six innings at an average of 41.00 and a strike rate of 236.52, with two fifties) and Jaiswal (223 runs in six innings at an average of 55.75 and a strike rate of 152.73, including two fifties) have been sensational throughout the season: averaging 54.66 and striking at 11.44 runs per over, as per statistics from Cricbuzz.

However, on the other side, LSG pacers have the best economy rate (8.77) and best dot-ball percentage (41.8) this season, and the trio of Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan and Prince Yadav can put the early squeeze on RR's explosive opening pair.

Shami in particular could be effective, having taken the wicket of the first ball of the innings most often (five times). He could have an interesting battle with Sooryavanshi, who has the habit of going hard right from ball one and has hit more sixes than any other batter since his IPL debut last year (44).

Squads: Rajasthan Royals Squad: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Yash Raj Punja, Adam Milne, Dasun Shanaka, Tushar Deshpande, Kuldeep Sen, Sushant Mishra, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Kwena Maphaka, Vignesh Puthur, Aman Rao Perala Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth, Mohsin Khan, Abdul Samad, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav, Himmat Singh, George Linde, Josh Inglis, Anrich Nortje, Arjun Tendulkar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Maharaj Singh, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari. (ANI)