Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings, the teams that played the final in the last season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) would be up against each other in the high octane Sunday clash at the National Stadium in Karachi. While Karachi defeated Lahore in their last meeting and won the PSL for the first time, the bruised Qalandars, from last year’s final defeat as well as from the bashing they got from Multan Sultans in their last game, would be looking to give it back to Karachi this time around.
The Qalandars have drafted in Sandeep Lamichhane as the replacement for Rashid Khan and would look to employ the leg spinner to give them some mileage wit the ball.
The Lahore team has got an amazing bowling line-up especially with the kind of form Mohammad Hafeez is in. But the problem for Qalandars has been the lack of form from their skipper Sohail Akhtar who has not been able to get into the groove even in a single of the three games he has played so far. His scores of 14, 21 and 7 have made no contribution to Lahore’ plans and it is disturbing news for the team when the skipper is unable to contribute.
The other problem that the Qalandars have faced since the departure of Afghan skipper Rashid Khan for his national duties, is the lack of spinning options. Although Samit Patel and Hafeez can both throw in 3-4 overs of orthodox spin, Hafeez has not been tried so far and Patel hasn’t returned the favours when he was tried. Thus the inclusion of Nepali import Lamichhane might just give Qlanadars the much-needed balance in the side. But along with that balance, they would want their skipper to fire as well.
Babar Azam the star player of the Kings finally found his original form back as he played a match-winning knock against Multan Sultans in the last game. Now that he is back in form, the Kings would want him to continue his form. With him coming back in form, and Sharjeel Khan announcing his arrival with a century in a game earlier than the last one, the Kings now have a great batting lineup that gives them an advantage over the Gladiators.
Imad Wasim’ side would therefore be looking to score anything in excess of 190 runs on the board, even if they lose the toss. They have got the bowling to defend the total and might be the first team to defend a total in PSL 6.
Match Number- 11
Day and Date: 28th 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
A fresh pitch is expected for this game. In the last game at the stadium, the Peshawar Zalmi showed that wickets upfront can put pressure on the batting team and it need not necessarily be a high scoring game all the time. However, the wicket was still good for batting and it was the lack of application from the Islamabad side that led to their downfall more than any role of the wicket.
Thus in this game too, a wicket with true bounce, pace and ball coming on to the bat is expected to make it a thrilling, high scoring T20 encounter that the National Stadium in Karachi is known for.
As it has been for the past 10 games, the weather at Karachi would be ideal for cricket with temperatures hovering between 25 and 20 degrees. The chill in the evening might give some assistance for the fast bowlers early on, but apart from that, with dew settling in later in the evening, skippers left with no option but to bowl first.
Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Joe Clarke (wk), Colin Ingram, Daniel Christian, Mohammad Nabi, Imad Wasim (c), Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal
Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar (c), Joe Denly, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Samit Patel, David Wiese, Ahmed Daniyal, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Maaz Khan
Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam (vc), Mohammad Hafeez (c), Fakhar Zaman, Joe Clarke (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Imad Wasim, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Amir, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi