Peshawar, Quetta look forward to seize important win today

RAWALPINDI: Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators will be eagerly looking forward to seize the win in an important clash today (Friday) to confirm their place in the play-offs ahead of moving to Karachi to conclude the league matches in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9.

Both the teams have nine points each though Quetta have played one game less unlike Zalmi that stand on the brink. They would be left counting the points and making guesses in case of their loss against Quetta on Friday.

Zalmi were given a rude awakening call by United a few days back with even the likes of Aamer Jamal’s hurricane knock could not see them going through. For the first time their top-order led by Babar Azam failed to make a sizable contribution in the ninth edition. Their bowling was also seen lacking the colour and depth necessary to curtail the opposition.

Luke Wood, Aamer and Arif Yaqoob’s performances were far below the required standards. Even Salman Irshad was unable to impress. Quetta were also not without their worries. The way their powerful batting line-up was bundled out by Karachi Kings in their last outing would have come as a shock for them.

Otherwise Quetta Gladiators had been one of the seasoned teams making a good impact early in the competition. Even their foreign picks Jason, Rutherford and captain Rossouw were unable to stem the rot against Karachi.

Their bowling department also lacked any real power to make an impact. With Usman Tariq already been called for a suspect bowling action, their bowling department would now heavily depends on Abrar Ahmed and Akeal Hosein.

Fast bowling has never been Quetta’s Gladiators forte as Mohammad Hasnain and Mohammad Aamir have yet to make any continuous impact on the opposition. Quetta are heavily dependent on their batting fireworks.

If top-order does not work on the given day, things could go wrong for them as happened during their last match against Karachi.

The spectators have already started thriving in from all parts of the KPK to watch Zalmi last match of the season at the Pindi Stadium. There has been an unprecedented demand for tickets especially for those traveling from areas surrounding the city.

With just 14,000 capacity available at the ground, the majority of Zalmi fans possibly would not be in a position to get entry into the stadium.

Zalmi’s camp would be desperately looking forward to a win today to confirm their place in the playoffs. In case of their defeat Quetta would go through leaving Zalmi in a further spot of bother.

Defending champions Lahore Qalandars have already become the first team to go tumbling out of the competition with Karachi Kings also facing a tough task ahead of them.

MATCH FIXTURE

Zalmi vs Qalandars

7:00 pm PST