The playoffs of the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will continue on Thursday (February 24) when Peshawar Zalmi lock horns with Islamabad United in the Eliminator at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Having missed out on a top-two finish, there is no room for a blip for either Peshawar or Islamabad as a defeat on Thursday will end their hopes of clinching PSL 2022.
The winner of tomorrow’s encounter will play Qualifier 02 against Lahore Qalandars, who suffered a 28-run defeat at the hands of defending champions Multan Sultans in Wednesday’s battle between the top-2 teams.
Both teams are coming off contrasting the last three fixtures in the group stage. The Wahab Riaz-led Zalmi are riding high on confidence after having registered three wins on the bounce leading into the playoffs. Those three victories also include a ten-run win over their Thursday’s opponents.
Peshawar will come into this game after having clinched a cliffhanger against Lahore Qalandars, where they overcame a late onslaught from Shaheen Afridi before beating the hosts in the Super Over. Wahab Riaz led from the front as he gave away just 6 runs.
Zalmi’s batting has been brilliantly led by the young opening duo of Mohammad Haris and Hazratullah and seasoned middle-order campaigners like Shoaib Malik and Hussain Talat while Salman Irshad and Riaz have been the spearheads with the ball.
However, they will badly miss the duo of Ben Cutting and Usman Qadir, both of whom have been ruled out of the Eliminator clash due to covid.
Islamabad United, on the other hand, were badly hamstrung in the last leg of the group stage due to the unavailability of key players like skipper Shadab Khan, Alex Hales, Paul Stirling due to a variety of reasons.
As a result, they will come into the playoffs after having suffered three defeats in a row. But, Zalmi surely won’t be taking them likely this time around as Islamabad have been bolstered by the return of Shadab and Hales.
While the last fixture between these two sides was won by Peshawar, their first encounter this season, resulted in a nine-wicket triumph for Shadab’s men after they gunned down the target of 169 in just 15.5 overs.
Who will prevail on Thursday?
Match Details - Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United, Eliminator, PSL 2022
Date: 24th February 2022
Time: 08:00 PM IST
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Broadcast: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, SonyLiV app and website
Pitch Report: Chasing has proved to be a near-impossible task for teams’ as the season has progressed.
The average 1st innings score in the last 11 completed night games at the Gaddafi Stadium is 170, with chasing teams winning just four of them.
Squads:
Peshawar Zalmi: Wahab Riaz (c), Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Haris, Liam Livingstone, Hussain Talat, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Haider Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Usman Qadir, Salman Irshad, Arshad Iqbal, Sameen Gul, Sirajuddin, Mohammad Amir Khan, Ben Cutting.
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Asif Ali, Azam Khan (wk), Athar Mahmood, Marchant de Lange, Danish Aziz, 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.
Probable Playing XI:
Peshawar Zalmi: Mohammad Haris (wk), Kamran Akmal, Liam Livingstone, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Hussain Talat, Amad Butt, Wahab Riaz (c), Khalid Usman, Mohammad Umar, Arshad Iqbal.
Islamabad United: Alex Hales, Mubasir Khan, Shadab Khan (c), Azam Khan (wk), Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Liam Dawson, Mohammad Wasim, Marchant de Lange, Waqas Mahmood.
CE Fantasy XI: Mohammad Haris (wk), Alex Hales, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan (c), Shoaib Malik, Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, Wahab Riaz, Merchant de Lange, Waqas Maqsood.
Captain: Shadab Khan
Vice-captain: Hussain Talat