LUCKNOW, May 9 -- One more loss and hopes for a berth in IPL playoffs goes for a six. This is the current situation of the Lucknow Super Giants as they take on joint table toppers Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their penultimate match on the home turf here on Friday. With just 10 points in 11 matches so far, LSG need to win all their remaining three matches to take their points tally to 16 and then will be waiting for other teams' positions at the end of the league phase as only four will be making it to the play-offs. As many as five teams, including Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, are already in the race for a berth in the play-offs and it looks a difficult task for the LSG to make the cut given their performance in the last three matches. Besides the poor form of skipper Rishabh Pant, it's the bad selection of pitches that hit LSG badly. Pant, who was bought by the franchise at the mega auction last year for Rs 27 crore, has so far scored 128 runs in 10 innings with 63 being his highest at an average of 12.80, and LSG lost all their three home games of red soil turf of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium besides winning two on the black soil pitch. Even while playing on black soil pitch here on Friday, LSG bowlers are expected to face some tough challenges from Virat Kohli, who has been in terrific form with 505 runs in 11 matches with an unbeaten 73 being his highest at an average of 63.12. Besides him, Devdutt Padikkal (247 runs), Phil Salt (239) and Rajat Patidar (239) are the other ones to tease LSG bowlers, including pacer Mayank Yadav. In fact, LSG's batting revolves around West Indies' Nicholas Pooran (410 runs), Australian Mitchell Marsh (378 runs) and Adien Markram (348 runs), and the only Indian batter doing wonders for LSG is Ayush Badoni, who has so far scored 326 runs at an average of 37.80. Undoubtedly, Pooran holds top position for LSG this year and represents the next-generation short-format superstar from West Indies. A powerful left-hand batter, who is master in handling both pace and spin fearlessly, hits sixes on demand. His 6,367 runs in 278 T20 matches at a strike rate of 153.27 so far speaks volumes of his calibre. Even in 2023 and 2024, Pooran established himself as LSG's middle-order mainstay and his batting style prompted LSH to sign him as their top retention at Rs 21 crore. Despite being on the verge of elimination from the play-offs race, LSG pacer Mayank Yadav sounded hopeful for a comeback in the remaining three matches of the side. "We are committed to winning the remaining three matches and all our hopes of making it to the play-offs are alive," said Yadav on the eve of the match on Thursday. He accepted that after spending a lot of time in recovery after being injured he was not bowling to his previous speed. "I haven't made any changes in my bowling style after recovering from the injury. I was away from cricket for 5-6 months. Normally, the body will adapt and it will take its own time. So, I think I will have to give some time to my body and my bowling so that the speed comes back," he said. "I feel we still have three matches and if we win that, there might be a chance that we can make it to the playoffs," he said, adding, "We don't have any special plan for any batter like Virat Kohli. We are focused to our game plan only." RCB's pacer and UP's own Yash Dayal said that team wasn't focusing on rivals' strength but stuck to their own game plan. "I always try to bowl on right line and length and don't bother much about the rival batters. My strength is to bowl on the good length spot," he said. He also said that Kohli helped him a lot in getting back his confidence after being hit five sixes by Rinku Singh in 2023 edition of the IPL. "Virat Bhaiya had a good time with me, boosting my confidence to come good after being hit five consecutive sixes in 2023," he said, adding, "RCB's only aim is to win Friday's match to confirm the playoffs ticket."...