The second T20I of the ongoing New Zealand’s tour of India will be played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium tonight. The penultimate match of the series will be the sixth T20I to be played at this stadium.
Advertisement
With India losing the first match in Ranchi on Friday, the hosts would be keen to return to winning ways especially to stay alive in the series and prevent the third T20I in Ahmedabad from becoming a dead-rubber.
New Zealand, who will be playing their first-ever match in Lucknow, will be looking to kick-start their journey at a new venue with a victory. If the same happens, readers must note that it will be their first-ever series (comprising of more than one match) victory in India.
Ekana Cricket Stadium T20 records of India
India, who have played only two T20Is at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, had ended up winning on both the occasions.
Part of the current 16-member squad, Ishan Kishan (227 runs in four innings at an average and strike rate of 75.67 and 146.45 respectively) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (175 runs in three innings at an average and strike rate of 58.33 and 148.31 respectively) are among the highest T20 run-scorers at this stadium.
Although no Indian bowler part of the current squad is among the highest T20 wicket-takers here, Washington Sundar (3), Kuldeep Yadav (2) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1) have picked wickets in the shortest format at this venue.
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium Lucknow T20 match results
With Lucknow Super Giants set to play at their home ground for the first time in Indian Premier League 2023, this comparatively newer Indian cricketing venue will also be hosting an IPL match for the first time in the upcoming months.
Played between India and West Indies over four years ago, the first-ever Lucknow T20I was also the first-ever T20 to be played at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. Since then, it has hosted a total of 29 Men’s T20s which includes five T20Is and 24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches. T20Is played here thus far are:
Match 1 – India beat West Indies by 71 runs in 2018
Match 2 – West Indies beat Afghanistan by 30 runs in 2019
Match 3 – Afghanistan beat West Indies by 41 runs in 2019
Match 4 – Afghanistan beat West Indies by 29 runs in 2019
Match 5 – India beat Sri Lanka by 62 runs in 2022
