Ekana Cricket Stadium Pitch Report: Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium by Lucknow Is India’s best cricket ground with state-of-the-art technology throughout the ground. Opened in 2017, it has a seating capacity of 38,000 people.
Since its opening, it has been the site of numerous exciting matches during the Indian Premier League as well as many famous moments involving some of cricket’s biggest stars including Mohammed Shami, Ben Stokes, Virat Kohli, and Gautam Gambhir.
Pitch Overview at Ekana Cricket Stadium
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The Ekana Cricket Stadium pitch report states that two different kinds of pitches affect the game in different ways:
The behaviour of a Black Soil Surface tends to hold onto its grip. Effective use of slow balls/cutters/variation for bowling purposes Bowlers will have more favourable conditions when bowling during the middle overs of a one day international (ODI)
Behavior of a Red Soil Surface
True pace and bounce result in a more reliable way of batting through the middle
Results in more runs being scored
Surface is favourable for stroke play.
Match Conditions/Boundaries
Square boundaries generally tend to be quite large, thus making it more challenging to hit sixes. Significant effect of dew on night matches. Due to the presence of dew, batters will find it much easier to time their shots (hit the ball) during the second half of a game due to dew being present on the surface of the ball. As a result of both dew and better batting conditions later in the day, teams will be inclined to want to chase at any time during a match.
Ekana Stadium – Toss Strategy
Best strategy – Win toss and bowl first
Dew assists chasing teams to have easier time
Black soil favours bowlers to get assistance early
Statistical summary of IPL matches at Ekana Stadium is:
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Total Matches: 22
Chasing Wins: 11
Defending Wins: 9
No Result: 1
Key Records
Highest Score: 235/6 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants
Lowest Score: 108/10 – Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Highest Chase: 177/2 – Punjab Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants
Lowest Defended Total: 126/6 – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Lucknow Super Giants
Average Scores at Ekana Cricket Stadium
Average Score: 175.36
1st Innings Average: 187
2nd Innings Average: 167
Is the Ekana Pitch Batting or Bowling Friendly?
According to the report on the Ekana Cricket Stadium Pitch Report, it’s a balanced pitch overall. According to the report, black soil favours the bowlers, while red soil favours the batters however, due to dew forming at night, the batters will likely have greater advantage during the second half of a match.
In general, this is an extremely tactically dynamic surface that will produce different results depending upon the time of day when matches are played on them.
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