The 18th game of PSL 2022 will see Islamabad United square off against a buoyant Quetta Gladiators at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.
Islamabad United have sitting pretty at the 2nd spot in the points table after having registered three wins in five matches.
Their latest win came at the expense of Babar Azam's Karachi Kings where they asserted their dominance in the tournament with a clinical all-round performance.
Batting first, each of Islamabad's top-4- Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Mohammad Nabi and skipper Shabad Khan- made scores in excess of 30, with Shadab (34 off 19 deliveries) being the most aggressive of the four.
However, their inability to convert it into a big start meant that United registered a middling total of 177/6 in 20 overs. But, in the end, it proved to be more than enough as Shabad ran through Karachi's batting unit to register unbelievable figures of 4/15 in 4 overs.
They will now face Quetta Gladiators, who are also riding high on confidence following a dominating seven-wicket win against Lahore Qalandars on Monday.
The victory was set up by England's Jason Roy, who took apart a star-studded Lahore attack and smashed thrilling 116 off 57 deliveries.
Roy's onslaught and a quickfire unbeaten 12-ball 25 meant that Sarfaraz & co made light work of the target (205) to put their campaign back on track.
But facing Islamabad will be a different kettle of fish, as the Gladiators found out in their previous encounter. In that game, the likes of Munro (72 off 35 deliveries), Paul Stirling (58 off 28 deliveries) and Azam Khan (65 off 35 deliveries) took Quetta's attack to the cleaners before Shadab ran through their batting to register a 5-wicket haul.
Roy vs Shadab could well turn out to be the decisive subplot of the context.
Match Details - Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators, PSL 2022
Date: 12th February 2022
Time: 08:00 PM IST
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Broadcast: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, SonyLiV app and website
Pitch Report
The surface at the Gaddafi Stadium has proved to be conducive for batting but the likes of Blessing Muzarabani have shown that there is enough in the pitch to keep the bowlers interested.
Squads:
Islamabad United:
Shadab Khan (c), Colin Munro, Asif Ali, Azam Khan (wk), Athar Mahmood, Marchant de Lange, Danish Aziz, Alex Hales, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Wasim, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Akhlaq (wk), Muhammad Musa, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Paul Stirling, Zafar Gohar, Zahir Khan, Zeeshan Zameer
Quetta Gladiators:
Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & WK), Ahsan Ali, Ben Duckett, James Faulkner, Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Khurram Shehzad, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, James Vince, Naseem Shah, Jason Roy, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Muhammad Ashar Qureshi, Noor Ahmad, Luke Wood
Probable Playing XI:
Islamabad United:
Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Shadab Khan ©, Azam Khan (WK), Asif Ali, Mubasir Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Waqas Maqsood
Quetta Gladiators:
Jason Roy, Ahsan Ali, James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & WK), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Namaz, Shahid Afridi, Luke Wood, James Faulkner, Sohail Tanvir, Ghulam Mudassar
CE Fantasy XI:
Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Ahsan Ali, Colin Munro, Shadab Khan ©, Azam Khan (WK), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Mohamamd Wasim
Captain: Shadab Khan
Vice-captain: Jason Roy