PSL 2020, Match 24, Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars, Preview – Qalandars seek to avenge their previous loss against Wahab Riaz and Co

Both the teams have won consecutive games in PSL 2020.

Published - 09 Mar 2020, 17:53 IST | Updated - 09 Mar 2020, 17:53 IST

View : 1.3K

2 Min Read

Pakistan Super League 2020 has turned out to be a roller coaster ride for Lahore Qalandars, who look to have found their winning momentum in the latter part of the tournament. In the beginning, they suffered three consecutive defeats against Multan Sultans, Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi before tasting their first victory of the PSL that they pulled off against defending champions Quetta Gladiators.

It looked like that win might turn their fortunes in the league but that was not the case as they suffered a defeat in the very next match against Islamabad United. The hopes of them qualifying for the playoff was dented with a big blow. After that loss, Qalandars marked their way back into the tournament with impressive performances as they pulled off two consecutive wins against Gladiators and Kings.

Now, they look pretty different from the side that began their campaign in PSL 2020. Moreover, those victories never looked like a fluke as they registered it by eight wickets in both the games. Now, they are left with only three games in their yards and they would be expected to mark victories in the left ones.

On the other hand, Peshawar Zalmi had a very dissimilar route until now in PSL. They got off to a bad start with a defeat in their curtain-raiser. But, they managed a win in the very next match against Gladiators. They registered an emphatic win against the defending champions by a margin of six wickets.

Later on, they followed this trend of alternate victories before they picked two in a row against Gladiators and United. But the interesting thing is to know that they are left with only two games ahead of the playoff. They are currently on the second position in the league by gathering nine points in eight games.

Team Combination

Lahore Qalandars

Lahore Qalandars are expected to come out with their winning combination. Fakhar Zaman and Sohail Akhtar will open the innings followed by Mohammad Hafeez and Ben Dunk in the middle-order, who have done a brilliant job in the last couple of games for their side. Even Akhtar and Dunk scored match-winning fifties in the previous match against Karachi Kings. Meanwhile, in bowling, they have a formidable line-up that comprises of Shaheen Afridi, Maaz Khan and Usman Shinwari. They have managed to restrict opponents for a nominal score.

Probable XI: Fakhar Zaman, Dane Vilas (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk, Samit Patel, Sohail Akhtar (c), David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Shinwari, Salman Irshad/Dilbar Hussain, Maaz Khan.

Peshawar Zalmi

Peshawar Zalmi team management will also look to go with their winning combination without tweaking much against Qalandars. Kamran Akmal and Imam ul Haq will operate as openers. In middle-order Tom Banton, Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik and Liam Livingstone, who are playing in great form and will give stability to their batting line-up. On the other hand, the bowling department will be handled by Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah and Hasan Ali. They will surely bank on their skipper Wahab Riaz, who is currently their leading wicket-taker for his team in PSL 2020.

Probable XI: Kamran Akmal (wk), Imam-ul-Haq, Tom Banton, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Liam Livingstone, Carlos Braithwaite, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz (C), Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali

The focus will be on

Kamran Akmal (Peshawar Zalmi)

Kamran Akmal is the leading run-scorer for his team in PSL 2020. So far he has mustered a total of 237 runs in seven games with a strike rate of 169.28. It is known that previous games have not gone well for the right-hander. But, he is expected to come out with astonishing performance in the upcoming game. There is no doubt over the fact that his performance will play a crucial role against Qalandars.

Ben Dunk (Lahore Qalandars)

Ben Dunk has regained his prime form with the bat in PSL 2020. He is currently on the third position in terms of most runs in PSL 2020 with 250 runs in five games with the help of two fifties. He played a blistering knock of 99* runs against Kings that helped his team in grabbing two important points in the league table. If he managed to click a good knock then the chances of his team winning the match against Peshawar Zalmi will be quite high.