Sultans lock horns with Zalmi in qualifier today

KARACHI: The in-form Multan Sultans, who topped the points table after registering seven wins out of 10 matches, are set to lock horns with Babar Azam-led Peshawar Zalim in the qualifier of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024 at 9PM on Thursday (today) at the National Bank Stadium.

The winners of today’s match will progress to the final, while the loser will get to play the Eliminator 2 against the winner of Eliminator 1 on March 16. Babar and Saim Ayub from Peshawar, and Muhammad Rizwan and Usman Khan from Multan will be the batters to watch.

In bowling, Usama Mir and David Willey are expected to do well for Rizwan’s team, while Luke Wood is the key bowler for Babar’s team. Both the teams carry the winning momentum as Sultans outclassed Quetta Gladiators by 79 runs in their last match. Second-placed Zalmi ended a point behind Sultans with six wins as their match against Lahore Qalandars got abandoned due to rain.

The 2017 PSL champions Zalmi took an edge over the 2021 winners Sultans as they defeated them by in league stage. Sultans’ bowling looks good on paper. Zalmi bowlers have done well in death overs.

In bowling for Sultans, the left-arm David Willey has been good with the new ball up front. Chris Jordan is a good death bowler. Pakistan’s Abbas Afridi and Mohammad Ali are also good, as the latter has picked 17 scalps but hasn’t been effective outside Multan.

Leg-spinner Usama Mir, who leads the bowling charts with 21 scalps in 10 games, has been difficult to hit for boundaries.

The absence of Afghan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, who picked nine scalps, will hurt Zalmi as he won’t be available in the qualifier due to the national team’s commitment.

In Saim Ayub, they have found an effective spin-bowling option as he has proved good on Karachi’s slow surface. All-rounder Aamer Jamal has also defended runs in the death overs but he has been inconsistent. Salman Irshad is also good at bowling accurate yorkers.

In the batting department, for the Sultans, right-hander Usman Khan, who has struck two tons, will pose a threat to the Zalmi bowlers. Rizwan, with 366 runs, has been good at anchoring the innings. Iftikhar Ahmed has been effective in launching huge shots in last overs.

For Peshawar, the star batter Babar Azam has been in sublime touch with the bat, being the event’s top run-scorer with 540 runs, besides forming a lethal opening pair with Saim. Babar has also shown an improvement in his strike rate.

Saim has also been phenomenal with his quick-fire cameos in the power play. West Indian Rovman Powell has also been effective at the back end.

TODAY’S FIXTURE

Sultans vs Zalmi

9:00 pm PST