Quetta Gladiators face off Islamabad United for the 18th Match.
Pakistan Super League Season 6
Venue and Time:
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi at 8 pm Local time, (9.30 pm IST)
Team News:
Despite the poor performance with the bat, United controlled the previous game pretty decently with the ball. They had 88% winning chances (as per the PSL poll) until the 19th over when they met Rashid Khan in the last over who then turned out to be a nightmare at the end. They would be disappointed for losing a close encounter, but surely will have a lot of positives as well. Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan have been two brilliant players who have played some pivotal roles in the team's success. Faheem Ashraf, one of their most experienced players will miss the game due to an injury and the team will look for his potential replacement. United probably has the best opening pair of Usman Khawaja & Colin Munro who need to be upfront and give them a good start that they need on these slow pitches. Asif Ali's form has been a frequent concern. He is batting down the order and perhaps that could be the reason why he is not able to adapt to the new role. However, he might bat up the order ahead of Iftikhar Ahmed since Fahim is Injured and Iftikhar struggles a bit on the slow pitches as well. Their bowlers are doing a great job and they will look to continue performing the same way for the team.
Quetta Gladiators, having started the 2021 season with the tag of 'favourites' haven't been able to keep the promise and looked gloomy. Despite having the likes of Tom Banton, Chris Gayle, Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Qais Ahmad, Usman Shinwari they had a poor season so far. Having played 5 matches, they won only 1 of them and therefore languishing at the bottom of the table. Quetta has the worst batting average (22.4) and bowling average (32.7) in the tournament so far. The side has got some experienced players into the side, Faf du Plessis, who has had a wonderful IPL season recently has been brought back into the side, which should ease the burden of opening pair. Chris Gayle has been replaced by his fellow mate Andre Russell, who can strike and add some muscle in the batting lineup. Mohammad Nawaz's form has been a real concern while the other bowlers have done the job pretty well. The team needs to rebound strongly in this second half to get effective enough for bringing some positive results. Can they bounce back before it's too late?
Overseas players who aren't available:
Quetta Gladiators: Dale Steyn, Tom Banton, Ben Cutting
Islamabad United: Phil Salt, Alex Hales, Lewis Gregory
Overseas players who will be available:
Quetta Gladiators: Andre Russell, Jack Wildermuth, Jake Weatherhald, Zahir Khan.
Islamabad United: Usman Khawaja
Probable Playing XI (IU): Shadab Khan ©, Usman Khawaja, Colin Munro, Rohail Nazir, Hasif Ali, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmad, Hasan Ali, Fawad Ahmad, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Muhammad Musa.
Probable Playing XI (QG): Faf Du Plessis, Usman Khan, Saim Ayub, Cameron Delport, Sarfaraz Ahmed ©, Azam Khan, Andre Russell, Jack Wildermuth, Mohammad Nawaz, Zahid Mohammad, Mohammad Hasnain.
The stats you should know:
- Since 2019, a total of 43 T20s have been played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, where pacers were more successful than the spinners claiming 287 of the 453 wickets. Spinners claimed 36.2 percent of the wickets and had the best average economy of 7. They will look to control the game far better than in the first leg of the tournament, where they averaged a wicket every 30 balls whereas the Pacers had success every 20 balls on average.
- Hasan Ali has the tournament’s second-best economy (5.8) and is joint-top alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi with a dot-ball percentage of 52.
- Andre Russell averages 7.8 from five T20 innings at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
- Sarfraz Ahmed is Quetta's best batsman in this edition with 185 runs from five matches at a strike rate of 146, including two fifties.
- Mohammad Hasnain and Zahid Mahmood picked up six wickets each in the first leg.
- Mohammad Nawaz has picked only one wicket in 13 overs but has an economy of 7.38.
Pitch Report:
Should be good to bat on in the first innings, there's not been so much dew and the pitch has been slow, that should give us an indication that the team winning the toss will look to bat first.
Dream11 Fantasy Team:
Wicket Keepers: S Khan, A Khan
Batsmen: F Plessis, C Munro, U Khawaja
All Rounders: A Russell (Captain), J Wildermuth, S Khan (V captain)
Bowlers: F Ahmed, H Ali, Z Mehmood.
Predictions:
If Gladiators bat first, they should score around 160-175 while if United bat first they should end up scoring 145-160. We will go with the Gladiators for this match.
(We post the final fantasy team on our telegram channel 10 minutes after the toss)
Note: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. Please ensure that while you select your team, consider the points that are mentioned and make your own decision accordingly.
Where To Watch In India:
Sony Six (Television Streaming), Sony LIV (Online Streaming)
