PSL 6: On the move Islamabad face Peshawar in top of the table clash

Peshwar Zalmi after winning two back to back thrillers have emoved to the second position in the Points table displacing Lahore Qlanadrs to the third. But above them are Islamabad United who are still the only unbeaten side in the Pakistan Super League so far. The two teams will come face to face at top of the table clash when they meet at each other in the second game of the double header’s day in Karachi.

While Islamabad seem to have patented the art of coming back from behind and getting partnership in the middle order to chase down any total, Peshwar too have built a rapport in chasing down totals. It would therefore be interesting to see if any of them could break the eight-match streak of not being able to defend a total in PSL.

All-rounders hold key for Islamabad

Although it has been two Englishmen in Alex Hales and Lewis Gregory who have led United to victory in the last two games, the team is more or less dependent on the all-rounders that it has got plenty in number. Be it Shadab Khan the skipper, Faheem Ashraf, Lewis Gregory, Hasan Ali or Iftikhar Ahmed, the availability of these many players with the dual ability to ball and bat pushes the management to try different combinations.

The form of the middle order is another plus point for the team from the capital enjoys ahead of the all-important clash. The Sherus as they are called would be wagging their tails to give it a go against their strongest opponent so far. The likes of Alex Hales, Asif Ali and Hussain Talat would be rubbing their hands to get on to the field and showcase their class as they did against the Karachi Kings. United are also the only team in the tournament so far to play with just three foreigners instead of four allotted in the quota, indicating how much belief they have in their homegrown talent.

Peshawar to take inspiration from the last two wins

When everyone thought that it was over for the Zalmi, someone or the other always rose to the occasion, guiding the team home, be it Haider Ali or Sherfane Rutherford or senior pro, Shoiab Malik. Even Wahab Riaz rescued the ship with his bat in an unexpected scenario.

It is this belief of the team in its players that has been sailing it through all hurdles. But now, this game is going to be a proper battle of the batting prowess of both teams. But usually, such situations bring the best out of the less fancied trade and hence bowling could turn out to be a handy option for the Zalmi if they bowl on the right lengths.

Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United: Match Details

Match Number- 10

Date and Time: 27th Feb, 07:30 pm IST, 07:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT

Venue: National Stadium, Karachi

Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony SIX, Sony LIV

Pitch Report

The same pitch on which the game would have been played in the afternoon would be used for the evening game too. Hence it would most likely be a bit dry wicket early on in the game. But as time would pass, dew would settle in on the ground, making it a flat deck and batting heaven.

Weather Update

The Karachi weather in the evening is supposed to remain calm with temperatures ranging between 28-24 degrees celsius. In such weather with dew settling in, the captains would be motivated to field first after winning the toss.

Probable XI

Peshawar Zalmi

Kamran Akmal (wk), Imam-ul-Haq, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shoaib Malik, Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Saqib Mahmood, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan

Islamabad United

Philip Salt (wk), Alex Hales, Shadab Khan (c), Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Lewis Gregory, Faheem Ashraf, Zafar Gohar, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr

Dream XI / Fantasy XI

Alex Hales (c), Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shoaib Malik, Haider Ali (vc), Sherfane Rutherford, Lewis Gregory, Faheem Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Saqib Mahmood, Hasan Ali

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Quetta can’t defend, Sarfaraz Ahmed left pondering with his frustrations at the end

Nobody wouldn’t want to be a Sarfaraz Ahmed at the end of a Pakistan Super League (PSL) game of Quetta Gladiators this season. Frustrated, almost crying through his sullen eyes and hands on his hips with lips refusing to utter any word. This has been Sarfaraz, the captain of the Gladiators for the last two matches as his bowlers have been unable to defend huge totals set up by the batsmen. The case was the same today as Dale Steyn was tonked for 21 runs in the penultimate over when the Gladiators needed to defend 27 from two overs. What rubbed salt to injury was the fact that during that over, he was hit for two sixes by a batsman of the stature of Wahab Riaz and one of the sixes went out of the stadium. Left to defend just six runs, Mohammad Hasnain bowled a pitch-perfect yorker to remove Wahab Riaz off the very first ball. Then bowling a length ball, he was able to get Saqib Mahmood run out but couldn’t stop Sherfane Rutherford from crossing over and reaching the striker’s end, a mistake that Sarfaraz also complained of during the post-match interview. Now tasked to defend six from four balls, Hasnain bowled a delivery that he wouldn’t have bowled in the worst of his nightmares, a beamer, outside off, so much outside that it was far from the reach of a helpless Sarfaraz and added to Zalmi scorecard, five extra runs, killing the game then and there. Zalmi chased down 199 and won the match by three wickets. Before all that mayhem in the last two overs, Zalmi were set an uphill task of chasing 199. It would become the fourth highest chase ever in the history of the PSL if the Peshawar team could reach there successfully. Imam-Ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal started the innings cautiously. But it couldn't go on for long as Akmal was trapped in a plan perfectly executed by Usman Shinwari, where he bowled just outside off, short of a length and forced Kamaran to hoik it towards wide third-man where Ben Cutting, coming in from deep point gobbled a simple catch. Soon Tom-Kohler Cadmore was removed by Steyn to push Zalmi on the backfoot. But instead of getting into a shell, Haider Ali and Imam counter attacked. The two added 52 in 32 balls before pressure mounted to Imam and he played the wrong line to google from Zahid Mahmood. Joined by experienced Shoaib Malik, Haider continued on his counter-attacking strategy and was readily helped by Quetta Fielders with their misfield. He even offered a sitter to Mohammad Nawaz at the point but was given an extra life. Just when it seemed that Malik and Ali would run away with the game, Steyn provided the much-needed breakthrough removing Ali just as he crossed the 50 mark. In the very next over, Ben Cutting removed Shoaib Malik to tilt the game in Quetta’ favour. However, the purple patch didn’t last long for the team in purple. Defending 50 from the last four, Shinwari bowled a good over giving just 9 runs and leaving 41 to defend in the last three. But Hasnain was hit for two sixes as he conceded 14 runs in the 18th over to leave 27 to defended by Steyn and himself in the last two overs. And the rest of the story is as plain and simple as it gets. Apart from Malik (34), Haider Ali (50), Rutherford and Wahab Riaz scored important 36* and 20 respectively to add on to Imam’s 41 and take the Zalmi home. For Gladiators, Steyn took two wickets. Earlier in the evening, Sarfaraz’s men were asked to bat after Quetta lost the toss. While the start wasn’t ideal as Cameron Delport departed early. However, young Saim Ayub and experienced Faf du Plessis laid the foundation for skipper Sarfaraz and Azam Khan to launch the attack. They did exactly that, adding 105 runs in just 52 balls. Hadn’t it been for a brilliant last over by Zalmi’ Mahmood, who gave away just five runs and took three wickets, Quetta could have easily gone above 200. Even after scoring a brilliant 40 ball 81, Sarfaraz ended up on the losing side at the National Stadium in Karachi once again. He and the management would now have to devise a plan that could get them over the line somehow as, after eight matches, they are the only team in the league without a point on the board. This was also the eighth consecutive match where a team batting first haven’t been able to defend a total in PSL.

PSL 6: Jolted by Islamabad blow, Karachi eye comeback against Rizwan strong Multan

Karachi Kings got their first blow in their very second game in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as they lost the game against Islamabad United even after scoring 196 runs. It was the biggest chase of the Islamabad side which has won two games in the same fashion by chasing down unexpected totals. After having been dealt such a blow the Imad Wasim led side would be up against Mohammad Rizwan’s Multan sultans, who finally won their first game. The Sultans would be oozing with confidence having defeated the table toppers Lahore Qalandars and quite handsomely at that too. Multan would be a tough challenge on any given day but with a win by their side, they are going to be ferocious. The defending champions Karachi need to be at their very best to be able to challenge a Multan side full of match winners. Karachi need calming influence on the bowling unit Even after scoring 196 runs and getting the two wickets out for just 13 runs, you would back the bowling side to win such encounters, especially if the side had got the opposition out for below 140 in their previous encounter. However, things went haywire for the likes of Waqas Maqsood and Aamer Yamin. The latter went for 29 runs in a single over, changing the entire momentum of the game. It is in situations like these that you would want your senior men to calm down the bowlers. But in the case of Karachi, their senior men in Mohammad Amir himself went for runs big time. Thus somebody in the dressing room needs to dumb it down to the skipper and senior pros to keep on chatting to the bowlers in times of crisis. The ideal situation for Multan: Let's go Rizwan Multan Sultans would want their skipper Mohammad Rizwan to keep on playing the way he has been so far in the tournament. He had hardly put any foot wrong and is now the leading run-scorer in the tournament having scored 182 runs with the help of two fifties and a forty. But the good thing for Multan is that Rizwan is not the only man in form. The team has got Sohaib Maqsood and James Vince to compliment him as well. Also, the fact that Chris Lynn is only a good inning away from regaining his form makes the batting lineup all the more destructive. With Sohail Khan replacing Sohail Tanvir and Shahnawaz Dhani getting experienced with each passing game, the bowling of the Sultans also looks good enough to defend big totals. Karachi Kings vs Multan Sultans: Match Details Match Number- 09 Day and Date: 27th Feb, 02: 30 pm IST, 02:00 pm Local, 09:00 am GMT Venue- National Stadium, Karachi Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony SIX, Sony LIV Pitch Report The Pitch at the Karachi Stadium during the day time has been slow to start with and then gets better as the game moves on. So the spinners come into play during the day and any team winning the toss would therefore like to field first. Weather Update The weather at Karachi would be ideal for cricket with temperatures hovering between 32 and 28 degrees. The heat in the afternoon would push the captain to chose for bowl first option to get assistance for their spinners. Probable XI Karachi Kings Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Joe Clarke (wk), Colin Ingram, Daniel Christian, Imad Wasim (c), Qasim Akram, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal Multan Sultans Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Chris Lynn, James Vince, Rilee Rossouw, Sohaib Maqsood, Khushdil Shah, Shahid Afridi, Carlos Brathwaite, Sohail Khan, Usman Qadir, Shahnawaz Dhani Dream XI / Fantasy XI Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Joe Clarke, Babar Azam, Sohaib Maqsood, James Vince, Imad Wasim, Daniel Christian, Carlos Brathwaite, Mohammad Amir, Shahnawaz Dhani, Usman Qadir

BCCI opposes ICC's EOI policy

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has opposed the International Cricket Council’s policy of inviting bidders to host the tournaments for the next eight-year cycle. “The BCCI brass has made their displeasure clear about this EOI concept for the next cycle during yesterday’s board meet,” a senior BCCI official privy to the development, said. “In fact, we are confident of getting good support from England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA).” There have been some smaller boards who have submitted combined EOI for hosting global meets. “Even some of the smaller boards like Oman and Emirates Cricket board along with Malaysia and Singapore are among those who have submitted combined EOI for hosting global meets,” the source said.

Missed chances haunt Lahore as Rizwan-Maqsood guide Multan to first win of the season

The fairy tale of Mohammad Rizwan and his Midas touch continued as the skipper led Multan to their first-ever win in the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). It was actually third time lucky for the Sultans as they had lost their last two games after dominating the proceedings for the most part of the match. Sultans were equally helped by some very clumsy fielding on the part of Qalandars who dropped both Rizwan and Sohaib Maqsood in crunch situations. The biggest change this time around for the team from South Punjab was that it won the toss and chose to field first, giving its batters the chance to win the game, instead of depending on the bowlers, who failed the team twice already. Chasing a modest total of 158, the Sultans didn’t start off well as Shaheen Afridi removed Chris Lynn with a ripper that broke the woodwork behind Lynn. Joined by the last match batting hero for Sultans, James Vince, Rizwan tried to build a partnership, but Vince got carried way, getting caught at the boundary of a Samit Patel delivery. But that was the last moment of joy for the Qlanadars in the game as Maqsood settled in with the skipper and added 110 for the fourth wicket to put Qalandars out of the game. Both the batsmen took all the Qlanadars bowlers for cleaners and were generously helped by the fielders of the likes of Fakhar Zaman who either did not attempt the catch or even if did, dropped sitters. He dropped Rizwan on 55 when Sultans were only 83/2. In the very next over, Maqsood too was dropped as Patel let down a sitter at the point on the bowling of Salman Mirza. Having been given these many chances, the two batsmen made sure that there were not many hurdles in the chase. When Rizwan finally got out of 76 from 49 balls, Multan needed only 18 runs and they cruised to the target under the guidance of Maqsood, who hit his first half-century of this season. The 33-year-old remained unbeaten on 61. Earlier in the day, being put to bat first after losing the toss, Lahore were rocked by twin strikes from Multan’s Shanawaz Dhani and Carlos Brathwaite. It took a lot of time for the Qalandars to make recovery. Mohammad Hafeez and Joe Denly built the innings and added 89 runs for the fourth wicket. At the time when they were together, Lahore threatened to cross the barrier of 170. Hafeez’s run-out changed the course of the Lahore innings as from 122-4 at 16.1, they ended up getting to only 157 in the 20 overs. While Hafeez top-scored for Qalandars, hitting consecutive half-centuries (60 off 35 in this innings), Dhani, the young man from Sindh along with Brathwaite picked two wickets each. For Qalandars, Shaheen Afridi picked two wickets to get to the top of the highest wicket-takers list. Mohammad Rizwan leads the highest run-getters charts with 188 runs in three innings. With this win at the National Stadium in Karachi, Sultans have now got off the mark in the Points Table, while Lahore remain at the number one spot.