February 05, 2022
KARACHI: Two of the most dangerous sides of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars, will face each other in their crucial game here at the National Stadium today.
The match starts at 2:30pm.
Both teams have four points each after playing three games during the ongoing seventh edition of the league.
United are in top form. After inflicting a crushing nine-wicket defeat on Peshawar Zalmi in their opener, United went down to leaders Multan Sultans by 20 runs. However, they crushed Quetta Gladiators by 43 runs in their third show on Thursday night.
United’s batting looks very dangerous. And Colin Munro’s joining the squad has added to United’s strength. The New Zealander on Thursday hit a super knock of 72 not out. Their Irish opener Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Azam Khan, Asif Ali and Shadab all have the capability to turn things around at any stage of the game.
United’s bowlers also have been living up to the expectations. Shadab Khan on Thursday picked up five wickets, his career-best effort, against Gladiators.
Mohammad Wasim Junior, Faheem Ashraf, Waqas Maqsood and Hasan Ali have been doing well.
Meanwhile, Lahore also have had a solid run, having won two matches. After losing to Multan Sultans by five wickets in their opener, Lahore beat Karachi Kings by six wickets and Peshawar Zalmi by 29 runs. They mostly depend on Fakhar Zaman’s prolific form as the left-hander has been showing immense consistency, scoring huge runs in almost every show.
Dir-born Kamran Ghulam also has shown resolve with the bat. Mohammad Hafeez was seen timing the ball well in the previous game against Zalmi and it is expected that the seasoned batsman will play a major knock against United today.
Originally published in The News