Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Punjab vs Pondicherry: Probable XIs, match prediction, live streaming, weather forecast and pitch report

Punjab will take on Pondicherry in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Elite Group A clash at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday.

Punjab finished atop the Elite Group A table in the competition's previous edition. They won all five matches, finishing the league phase with 20 points. Punjab beat Karnataka in the first quarter-final as well.

However, their campaign came to an end against Baroda in the semi-final. Prabhsimran Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Mandeep Singh were their most prolific run-scorers. Siddharth Kaul and Arshdeep Singh were their leading wicket-takers.

Pondicherry, meanwhile, finished fourth in the Elite Group E points table last year. They won only win two of their five matches, gathering eight points. Sheldon Jackson had a brilliant season for them with the bat. Pondicherry will hope for a better show this season, and will look to kick off their campaign with a win.

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Punjab vs Pondicherry Match Details

Match: Punjab vs Pondicherry, Elite Group A, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22.

Date and Time: November 4, 2021, Thursday, 1:00 PM IST.

Venue: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

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Punjab vs Pondicherry Pitch Report

The wicket should offer some assistance to the bowlers during the first half of the game. This pitch is good for chasing. Therefore, the team winning the toss could look to bowl first and chase a target.

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Punjab vs Pondicherry Weather Forecast

The weather is predicted to be clear, which should make for a full game. There is no prediction of rain during the match. The temperature will likely range between 26 and 32 degrees Celsius.

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Punjab vs Pondicherry Probable XIs

Punjab

Prabhsimran Singh top-scored for them last season with 341 runs, including three fifties. Abhishek Sharma scored 206 runs, including a fifty and a century.

Mandeep Singh was their third-highest run-scorer with 185 runs. Siddharth Kaul had a great season with the ball. The right-arm pacer also picked up 14 wickets, with best figures of 4-26. Arshdeep Singh impressed as well with ten wickets, with a best of 3-16.

Probable 11: Prabhsimran Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Ramandeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Arshedeep Singh, Mayank Markande.

Pondicherry

Sheldon Jackson had a brilliant run with the bat in the tournament last year. He notched up 242 runs from five matches. Meanwhile, Ashith Rajiv Sanganakal picked up seven wickets, while Sagar Paresh Udeshi snapped up six wickets.

Probable 11: S Karthik, Damodaran Rohit, Sheldon Jackson, Paras Dogra, Subramanian Anand, Premraj Rajavelu, Fabid Ahmed, Sagar Udeshi, Santha Moorthy, A Aravinddaraj, Ashith Rajiv Sanganakal.

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Punjab vs Pondicherry Match Prediction

Punjab won six of their seven games last season. They were unbeaten in the group stage, where they put up a good all-round performance. Punjab will look to replicate that form this season. Pondicherry, meanwhile, were not up to the mark in the tournament last year. So they will look to redeem themselves, but face quite a stern test against Punjab.

Prediction: Punjab to win this game.

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Punjab vs Pondicherry live telecast details and channel list

TV: N/A.

Live Streaming: Disney+Hotstar.