PZ vs QG: Zalmi, Gladiators to battle for place in play-offs today

LAHORE: Two former champions Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators will be aiming to remove ifs and buts from their way to the playoffs of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) seven edition when both sides will take on each other in the 22nd match of the tournament.

Both the teams have six points from seven games each but Gladiators are ahead of Zalmi based on net run rate (NRR) and currently placed at the fourth position in the points table.

However, the Zalmi would start the game with a win on their back as they had defeated Karachi Kings in their last match while Gladiators were outclassed by Lahore Qalandars in their last game played at Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium.

Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed will want his side to overcome the defeat by Qalandars when they take on Zalmis today.

His side was hugely relying on the batting form of Jason Roy and James Vince – both were out cheaply against Qalandars and Gladiators wouldn’t want to repeat the same situation against Zalmi.

Read more: Karachi Kings eliminated from playoffs with 0 points

Iftekhar Ahmed’s return will also boost confidence in the dugout of Quetta Gladiators. There’s nothing much for Sarfaraz and Moin Khan to worry about from the bowling side; however, they’ll want some runs from batters for bowlers to defend comfortably.

Meanwhile, Quetta Gladiators has included left-arm pacer Mohammad Irfan in the lineup after missing Hasnain and Luke Wood. They will also miss the services of Ben Duckett in the remaining of PSL, but this is unlikely to dent Gladiators’ strategy much.

On the other hand, Zalmi will be confident after a 55-run victory over Karachi Kings on Sunday but Wahab Riaz would have in mind that Gladiators are not Kings and there won’t be many dot balls in power-play if Jason Roy, Ahsan Ali and James Vince are not removed earlier.

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He would surely want Zalmi’s bowling lineup not to leak too many runs in a power play over.

The current form of Hazratullah Zazai and youngster Mohammad Haris will also boost the confidence of Zalmi’s dugout.

Seeing the lineup of both the teams and conditions in Lahore, one expects some fireworks in the stadium on Tuesday evening with a high-scoring match.

Peshawar Zalmi will take on Quetta Gladiators today at 7:30pm under the lights of Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium.

Players to watch: Jason Roy and Mohammad Harris.

Squads:

Peshawar Zalmi: Wahab Riaz, Liam Livingstone, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Haider Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Hussain Talat, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Qadir, Salman Irshad, Ammad Butt, Sameen Gul, Kamran Akmal, Sirajuddin, Mohammad Amir Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Umer, Sohail Khan, Matt Parkinson, Pat Brown

Quetta Gladiators: James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hassan Khan, Naseem Shah, Jason Roy, James Faulkner, Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Khurram Shehzad, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Muhammad Ashar Qureshi, Noor Ahmad, Ahsan Ali, Ghulam Mudassar, Will Smeed, Ali Imran.