Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium Lucknow pitch report: Ekana Stadium pitch report for IND vs NZ 2nd T20I

The second and penultimate match of the T20I series between India and New Zealand will take place at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow, on January 29 (Sunday).

After playing on the JCSA Stadium pitch which along expected lines, offered significant purchase to the spinners, the action will move some 700 kilometers away to the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh.

During the first T20I in Ranchi, it were the Indian spinners who had a near perfect outing, with the seamers getting hit black and blue. The trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Deepak Hooda only conceded 56 runs across the 10 Overs they had bowled during the New Zealand innings.

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Even during the Indian chase, New Zealand skipper and left arm off-spinner Mitchell Santner troubled the Indian batters, so much so that he single-handedly won it for his side with his remarkable spell (4-1-11-2). As to how troublesome he proved for the Indian batting line-up can be ascertained with the fact that he managed to bowl a maiden over to someone like a Suryakumar Yadav.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium Lucknow pitch report

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow will host its sixth T20I on Sunday, and its first since February last year.

India had defeated Sri Lanka by 62 runs during the last T20I here, courtesy of a huge first innings total of 199/2, with the help of notable contributions off the bats of Ishan Kishan (89) and Shreyas Iyer (57).

Across the five T20Is at this venue since the year 2018, the average score stands at 144.8 runs. The pitch will overall suit the batters, but there is likely to be definite purchase for the bowlers as well, with the black soil to provide the pacers with decent bounce throughout the match duration. As for the spinners, they will also come into the game as the match progresses.

With the average first innings score in T20Is here being 172, it has turned out to be a good track for the defending teams, with all the five matches being won by the teams batting first.