PSL 2018, Match 27: Peshawar Zalmi vs Karachi Kings – Match Predictions

Peshawar Zalmi’s performance has been really up and down in PSL 3, more down than up as they haven’t been able to match the standards they had set for themselves last season at all. Now they are at a stage where one more negative result will send them packing as they have only 3 victories to their names so far in 8 games.

Karachi Kings have played the same number of games as well, but they have won one more in Peshawar’s comparison and thus this is not quite a must-win encounter for them as they would remain in contention even if they end up on the losing side here. However, they will want to seal the playoff spot today itself and won’t want to stretch it any further as it will only bring undue pressure and panic in the camp.

Probable nature of the pitch

The pitch should be a cracker to bat on as all the pitches in the PSL have been in the last one week or so. It’s been a drastic change in the nature of the pitches all of a sudden as they have turned flat from abrasive. The curators must be praised for working hard and coming up with such surfaces as the standard of batsmanship on abrasive surfaces was not up to the mark earlier.

With flat surfaces on a show now, the batsmen are enjoying it much more and there are lot more boundaries and sixes flying around, much to the delight and entertainment of the fans. The general perception on flat pitches is that you bowl first as chasing the scores is easier, but in PSL, the teams batting first have been winning more often than not. So the captain winning the toss will probably decide to bat again.

Playing Combination

Peshawar Zalmi

Peshawar’s batting is not firing and that’s the main issue. They have probably slotted the wrong people at the wrong positions. Somebody like Riki Wessels should be opening the batting as that’s the position where he achieved most of his success in England’s domestic T20 competition, the Natwest T20 Blast. Mohammad Hafeez can possibly bat 3 and can drop anchor for the other batsmen to be a bit aggressive around him. Also, Darren Sammy needs to walk in around the 13-14th over mark so that he can have enough time to make a difference.

Wahab Riaz has been absolutely magnificent with the ball for the reigning champions all through the tournament, but unfortunately, nobody else in that attack has stepped up and Peshawar has paid the price of it as all the pressure Wahab has created has been released at the other end. The rest of the members of the bowling unit need to pull their socks up big time and complement the big left arm.

Predicted XI: Riki Wessels, Kamran Akmal (WK), Dwayne Smith, Mohammad Hafeez, Darren Sammy, Khushdil Shah, Liam Dawson, Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif, Mohammad Asghar, Hasan Ali

Karachi Kings

Karachi Kings lost their previous game in the super over and while they would like to think they could have bowled a tad better in the latter stages of the game, the fact is that they didn’t have enough runs on the board to start with. 163 was not a par score at all on a flat pitch and the bowlers actually did well to keep them in the game. They will have to address the issue of the top order batting very, very quickly.

The problem with Karachi’s top order has been that they have got their eyes in and have driven the innings to the 15th-16th over mark and then right at the time of acceleration, they have lost their wickets which has left the innings in a bit of a disarray as it isn’t easy for the new players to come in and start connecting the big shots straightaway. One of the top order bats should make sure that when they bat long, they successfully up the ante towards the end.

Bowling wise, Karachi is fine. There is enough quality in there both in the pace and the spin department with Usman Khan Shenwari and Mohammad Amir bowling upfront and Shahid Afridi and the captain Imad Wasim taking care of the business in the middle overs. Imad has at times bowled with the new ball too in the tournament and it won’t be surprising if he does it again.

Predicted XI: Ravi Bopara, Lendl Simmons, Usman Khan, Shahid Afridi, Colin Ingram, Joe Denly, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Imad Wasim (c), Mohammad Irfan Jnr, Mohammad Amir

Probable Top Performers

Wahab Riaz (Peshawar Zalmi) | Joe Denly (Karachi Kings)

Head to Head

Matches – 6, Karachi Kings– 2, Peshawar Zalmi – 4

The timing of the match: 05:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – D Sport

The prediction is for the Peshawar Zalmi to beat the Karachi Kings in this match.