Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators - PSL - Match 12 - Preview

After a crushing defeat to Peshawar Zalmi in the last game, Islamabad United will be eager to get back to winning ways when they take on Quetta Gladiators, who’re yet to win a game in the tournament,on Monday, March 1st. Islamabad has two wins in 3 games and have been decent but not consistent. Alex Hales has got runs in every game but Shadab Khan and Philip Salt have not contributed much. The all rounders have played their part and took Islamabad to a par score. If the top order is not scoring runs, then a collapse is always on the cards, exactly what happened against Peshawar Zalmi where they were bowled out for 118. The bowlers have been pretty ordinary too. They have plenty of bits and pieces cricketers but they lack a genuine wicket-taker. 

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For Quetta, things have not gone their way but they’ve improved with every game. Sarfaraz Ahmed has batted well while Du Plessis started his PSL 2021 with a solid knock. He will provide a lot of stability to the batting order. Other players like Azam Khan, Mohammed Nawaz have also done well. The batting is doing fine but the bowlers have been pretty expensive. They have a strong bowling attack in Mohammed Hasnain, Usman Shinwari, Dale Steyn but they’ve not lived up to the expectation. 

Overall, both teams are on par in terms of quality but if Quetta can bowl well, they’ll have a great chance of pocketing a win as their batsmen have shown the consistency which is lacking in Islamabad’s batting.

Key Players

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Sarfaraz Ahmed - Sarfaraz Ahmed is looking in prime form. He stroked a quickfire 40 against Lahore and then backed it up with a magnificent 81 against Peshawar Zalmi. He’s competing with Mohammed Rizwan for a place in the Pakistan team and a good PSL will give him the limelight he needs.

Faf du Plessis - Faf du Plessis replaced Gayle in the last match and played well for his 37. He’s a very experienced player and can be backed to perform well in the next game

Alex Hales - The destructive batsmen is in fine form. He was top class in the BBL and carried his form in the PSL as well. He’s got good scores in every match but hasn’t crossed the 50 run mark. He’ll aim for a big one in the next match.

Islamabad United Probable XI- Philip Salt(wk), Alex Hales, Paul Stirling, Shadab Khan (C), Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Fawad Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr   

Quetta Gladiators probable XI - Faf du Plessis, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Cameron Delport, Azam Khan, Saim Ayub, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Zahid Mahmood, Dale Steyn, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Shinwari