PSL 2018, Match 17, Multan Sultans vs Quetta Gladiators – Match Predictions

The Multan Sultans are expected to continue their dominance over proceedings.

Published - 07 Mar 2018, 12:42 IST | Updated - 07 Mar 2018, 12:42 IST

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The last encounter between Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators which took place just a couple of days back had resulted in an embarrassing loss for Quetta and they now have their opportunity to avenge it as the two teams are going to lock horns again in the return fixture at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. This has certainly gone ahead and made the Pakistan Super League a lot more interesting.

Quetta has lost the plot a little bit as they have slipped down to no. 5 in the points table. They were in top 2 at one stage, but back to back losses in the last couple of games have pushed them right down which is not good at this point when the tournament is approaching its business end. They will like to lift themselves sooner rather than later and enhance their position in the standings.

Multan is two points clear at the top and if the level of their performance doesn’t go down drastically from here, they should be comfortable making it to the knockouts and that’s the reason they will be slightly lesser concerned in comparison to Quetta as they walk into tonight’s game.

Probable nature of the pitch

Dubai in the first leg of the tournament had dished out pretty abrasive pitches, but yesterday for a change the pitch played quite even in terms of pace and bounce and the ball skidded on nicely off the surface making the strokeplay that bit easier. It resulted in a high scoring encounter as the team batting first managed to post a score in excess of 180 and the team chasing also managed to get to 164.

If the pitch is of the similar kind tonight as well, it will be good for the fans as they might get to witness some high-quality strokes again. And a flat surface will also mean that the captains will be more interested in chasing rather than setting up a score unlike what they would do if it’s a slow, sluggish surface.

Playing Combination

Multan Sultans

The openers have been fairly consistent for Multan throughout this campaign, but Sohaib Maqsood showed last night why he is considered the X-factor of this team as he belted 80 odd at a strike rate of more than 200 to propel Multan to a match-winning score. Kieron Pollard also seemed to be in good touch batting towards the end of innings as he deposited a couple of lusty blows into the stands. These two with their power game will remain the key for Multan moving ahead.

Pollard proved his worth as a bowler too against Zalmi as he bowled his full quota of 4 overs and registered a 3-for next to his name which might have surprised the team management a bit as he is only a part-timer, but they won’t mind at all if he keeps chipping with the ball like this every now and again.

Predicted XI: Kumar Sangakkara, Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik (C), Kieron Pollard, Darren Bravo, Sohail Tanvir, Saif Badar, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Imran Tahir

Quetta Gladiators

Quetta replaced Kevin Pietersen with Mahmudullah in the previous game, but Mahmudullah has gone to discharge his national duties now. So there is certainly going to be a change in their XI. If Pietersen is fit, he will walk straight in and will replace Mahmudullah, but in case his fitness is not up there yet, the other option that they have in the squad is Chris Green.

While Green doesn’t quite have the experience of playing on subcontinent surfaces, he is someone who did very well in the recently concluded BBL. He offers a bit with both bat and ball and can actually be a surprise package if Quetta decides to put him in. Barring that one change, the rest of the Quetta line-up should remain the same.

Predicted XI: Asad Shafiq, Shane Watson, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C), Umar Amin, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Chris Green, Hasan Khan, Anwar Ali, John Hastings, Rahat Ali