PSL 3, Match 5: Quetta Gladiators vs Lahore Qalandars – Match Predictions

Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators didn’t have a great start to their PSL 3 campaign as both of them lost their opening games on Friday and lost them fairly badly. However what’s good for them is that they don’t have to wait for too long to get back on the park as they are playing again just a day later and they will be looking to make a statement with a strong performance.

The Qalandars and the Gladiators on paper look pretty good, but for some reason they couldn’t quite turn up as a unit the other night which can happen at times at the start of the tournament, but after that wake-up call in the form of a loss, one can expect both of them to play far better Cricket which makes it a fantastic match-up on a Saturday evening.

Probable nature of the pitch

Since it’s the second game of a doubleheader, the playing surface will be a used one and it will have worn down a tad with possibly 40-overs being already bowled on it. The Dubai pitches happen to be more sluggish than normal anyway even if it’s a new pitch which is the reason why the captains like to tilt more towards batting first as the strokeplay doesn’t remain easy to execute moving forward in the game on such surfaces. Considering the fact that this one is going to be a used one and thus will be even slower, batting first becomes a no-brainer.

Playing Combination

Quetta Gladiators

The Gladiators have got a solid batting line up with power up top in Shane Watson and class in the middle order in Kevin Pietersen and Rilee Rossouw. However, they might be better off pushing Pietersen to no. 3 rather than 4 because at 4 he may not get enough time to play himself in and he is someone who doesn’t go hard from ball one. Also, there is that theory in T20 Cricket or any limited over Cricket in general that your best batsmen should face a maximum number of deliveries. Going by that, Pietersen should bat 3 followed by captain Sarfaraz Ahmed who is a good manipulator of the strike and can keep the scoreboard ticking through the middle overs.

The Gladiators will be a little worried about their bowling as the bowling seems to be lacking that X-factor. Except for Jofra Archer, there is no real pace in the attack. That wrist spinning option is not there either which more often than not can be a game breaker in T20 Cricket. They will like to persist with the same attack though for at least one more game before thinking about making changes. They don’t have too many options in the squad at the moment anyway.

Predicted XI: Asad Shafiq, Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C), Umar Amin, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Khan, Anwar Ali, Jofra Archer, Rahat Ali

Lahore Qalandars

The Qalandars’ thumping at the hands of the Sultans’ was rather surprised with the team they have got. They actually walked into that game as favorites if anything, but ended up suffering a big loss. The batting just couldn’t come to the party despite the presence of big names and the bowling also looked pretty depleted. They will want to put that aside though as they are much better a team than that and will want to show that on the ground today against the runners-up of the last season.

There is no need for them to tinker with their composition or the batting order for that matter. They have got the right personnel in the XI and the right players batting at right positions as well. It’s just about executing the skills properly. Once they do that, they will be fine as the quality is present in abundance.

Bowling wise too, unlike the Gladiators, the Qalandars have enough variations with the raw pace of the young Shaheen Shah Afridi, the change-ups of Mustafizur Rahman, the mystery spin of Sunil Narine and the wrist spin of Yasir Shah. It’s a well-balanced T20 unit.

Predicted XI: Fakhar Zaman, Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum (C), Umar Akmal, Sohail Akhtar, Cameron Delport, Aamer Yamin, Yasir Shah, Raza Hasan, Shaheen Afridi, Mustafizur Rahman

Here’s what CricTracker predicts for the game

Probable Top Performers

Rilee Rossouw (Quetta Gladiators) | Yasir Shah (Lahore Qalandars)

Head to Head

Matches – 4, Quetta – 3, Lahore – 1

Timing of the match: 09:30 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – D Sport

The prediction is for the Lahore Qalandars to beat the Quetta Gladiators in this match.