PSL 2022: Karachi Kings look to end drought as they face struggling Peshawar Zalmi today

• Kings have lost all matches in first leg of PSL 2022.
• Zalmi have won just one match, which was against Kings.
• Both sides faced each other 16 times, with Zalmi having the upper hand.

LAHORE: Former champions Karachi Kings will aim to end their drought in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 7 when the Babar Azam-led side will take on ex-champions Peshawar Zalmi in match 19 of the tournament in Lahore Sunday afternoon.

The Kings have lost all five matches in the first leg of the tournament played in Karachi. Peshawar won 2 of the 5 matches it played at National Stadium with one victory coming against Karachi Kings.

Zalmi, on the other hand, didn’t get enough chances to cheer in Karachi’s leg of the tournament and they’re just one place above the 6th placed Karachi Kings on the points table.

Read more: Babar Azam's 90 goes in vain as Peshawar Zalmi trump Karachi Kings

With both sides looking to do something for survival in the tournament and keep the campaign going, one can expect them to go all-in on Sunday afternoon.

A defeat would further dent Karachi Kings’ chances to stay among the contenders in the tournament, while Peshawar, having four points from five matches, aren’t looking in a comfortable position either. However, Wahab Riaz has got less to worry about than Babar who was named Kings’ captain right before this season.

Head-to-head:

Both the sides have faced each other 16 times with Karachi winning only 5 of them while Peshawar was the winner on 11 occasions.

Karachi Kings will need Sharjeel Khan to score some runs and take some pressure off Babar if they want to go well in the remainders of the tournament.

If batting doesn’t let down Karachi Kings as it did in the first leg of the tournament, then Babar can depend on his bowlers to defend a total that is beyond 180 in Gaddafi stadium.

Zalmi will try to exploit fragility in Kings batting if their top order fails to provide a good start, especially in the power play overs.

Players to watch: Babar Azam, Saqib Mehmood

Teams:

Peshawar Zalmi — Hazratulah Zazai, Liam Livingstone, Wahab Riaz, Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik, Hussain Talat, Saqib Mahmood, Usman Qadir, Arshad Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Salman Irshad, Sameen Gul, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Mohammad Aamer, Sirajuddin, Ben Cutting and Mohammad Haris.

Karachi Kings — Babar Azam, Chris Jordan, Imad Wasim, Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nabi, Joe Clarke, Aamir Yamin, Sharjeel Khan, Mir Hamza, Rohail Nazir, Tom Abell, Umaid Asif, Faisal Akram, Qasim Akram, Romario Shepherd and Talha Ahsan.