The 9th match of PSL 2022 will see Peshawar Zalmi face Lahore Qalandars at the National Stadium in Karachi.
This will be a crucial game for Zalmi as they will aim to get their campaign back on track following a nine-wicket mauling in their last fixture at the hands of Islamabad United.
The Wahab Riaz-led unit had got off to a brilliant start to their PSL game thanks to a five-wicket win over Quetta Gladiators in their season opener. However, a poor bowling performance against Islamabad proved to be their undoing as Alex Hales (82* off 54 deliveries) and Paul Stirling (57 off 25 deliveries) obliterated their attack to all corners.
Wahab Riaz (0/22 in 3 overs) was the pick of the bowlers as far as stemming the flow of runs is concerned but he would have liked to add to the wickets column.
Usman Qadir failed to repeat the good work he had done against Quetta (0/20 in 4 overs) as he conceded 41 runs off 18 deliveries. The duo will look to put up a better show in the upcoming fixture.
With regards to their batting, the middle-order trio of Malik, Hussain Talat and Sherfane Rutherford has been their lynchpin and the management would hope for a similar showing from their top-order batsmen, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Yasir Khan and Haider Ali.
Lahore Qalandars, on the other hand, will look to continue with the momentum they've gained following a six-wicket win in their last fixture against Karachi Kings.
Once again, it was opener Fakhar Zaman, who led the way for Qalandars. The swashbuckling southpaw backed up his 35-ball 76 in the opening game with a match-winning century- 60-ball 106- in the second as Lahore successfully chased down 171.
Earlier, it was Mohammad Hafeez and Rashid Khan who brought Lahore back in the game as they dismissed the opening duo of Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam, who had stitched 84 runs in just 10.1 overs.
Later, Haris Rauf wiped off the middle-order to finish with a three-wicket haul (3/33 in 4 overs). The upcoming fixture will be a battle between Lahore's bowling and Zalmi's middle-order, with the battle between Shoaib and Rashid at the heart of it.
Match Details - Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars, PSL 2022
Date: 2nd February 2022
Time: 08:00 PM IST
Venue: National Stadium, Karachi
Broadcast: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, SonyLiV app and website
Pitch Report:
In the past two games, Multan Sultans have shown twice that scores can be defended successfully in Karachi. The average first innings score in 6 night games thus far is 164.6. It will be interesting to see if teams’ change their plan given the events of the past two days or do they stick to the template: win toss and chase.
Squads:
Peshawar Zalmi:
Wahab Riaz (c), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Yasir Khan, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik (c), Hussain Talat, Ben Cutting, Sohail Khan, Patrick Brown, Sameen Gul, Usman Qadir, Kamran Akmal (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Arshad Iqbal, Salman Irshad, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Umar, Sirajuddin.
Lahore Qalandars:
Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Mohammed Hafeez, Abdullah Shafique, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Harry Brook, Ben Dunk (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Dean Foxcroft, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Maaz Khan, Mohammed Imran, Samit Patel, Matty Potts, Rashid Khan, Phillip Salt, Sohail Akhtar, Syed Faridoun, David Wiese, Zaman Khan, Zeeshan Ashraf (wk).
Probable Playing XI:
Peshawar Zalmi:
Tom Kohler-Cadmore (wk), Yasir Khan, Haider Ali, Hussain Talat, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Ben Cutting, Wahab Riaz (c), Sohail Khan, Patrick Brown, Usman Qadir.
Lahore Qalandars:
Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hafeez, Samit Patel, David Wiese, Ben Dunk (WK), Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
CE Fantasy XI:
Fakhar Zaman (c), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (WK), Haider Ali, Hussain Talat, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Mohammad Hafeez, Rashid Khan, Samit Patel, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Afridi
Captain: Fakhar Zaman
Vice-captain: Shoaib Malik