QG vs MS: Quetta Gladiators eye to strengthen position in today's match

LAHORE: Out-of-form Quetta Gladiators will try to find some comfort when they take on relaxed Multan Sultans in match number 25 of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium today.

Cricket lovers will see an interesting clash between two wicketkeepers as defending champions Multan Sultans will face 2019-champions Quetta Gladiators in their second meeting today.

Meanwhile, the Sultans will be relaxed as they have already qualified for the playoffs with 14 points from eight matches. It will be Gladiators who will remain under pressure as they are currently standing at the fifth place with six points from eight games.

Sultans 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 Peshawar Zalmi in their last game played at Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium.

Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed will want his side to overcome the defeat by Zalmi when they take on Sultans.

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

Iftekhar Ahmed’s performance will also boost confidence in the dugout of Quetta Gladiators. There’s nothing much to worry about bowlers for Moin and Sarfaraz but they’ll want some runs from batters for bowlers to defend comfortably.

The side has, meanwhile, 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 remainders of PSL but this is unlikely to dent Gladiators’ strategy much.

Sultans, on the other hand, will be confident after a seven-wicket win over Karachi Kings on Wednesday but Mohammad Rizwan would have this in mind 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.

He would surely want Sultans bowling line not to leak too many runs in power play overs.

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

Possible playing XI:

Quetta Gladiators: Jason Roy, Will Smeed, James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Iftikhar Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Noor Ahmad, Sohail Tanvir, Naseem Shah, Ghulam Mudassar, Khurram Shahzad.

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c, wk), Shan Masood, Rilee Rossouw Tim David, Khushdil Shah, Aamer Azmat, Asif Afridi, Rumman Raees, Imran Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Blessing Muzarabani