Lahore Qalandars moved to the second spot in the PSL points table after a nail-biting victory over Islamabad in the 12th match of PSL 7. Islamabad on the other hand move down to the third spot after losing their second match of the tournament.
Lahore got off to a flyer as the took maximum advantage of the powerplay and took the Islamabad United bowling unit to the cleaners. They lost their way in the middle phase of the innings as Islamabad’s captain Shadab Khan took four wickets to disrupt Lahore’s innings. They made a good comeback in the latter part of the innings and finished with a challenging total of 174/9.
Islamabad were not at their usual best with the bat early on n the innings as they lost Paul Stirling and Alex Hales cheaply. Colin Munro and Shadab Khan steadied the ship and scored brilliant half-centuries to put them in a commanding position. Lahore’s world-class bowling unit were not going to back down easily as they struck back with back to back wickets of both the set players. Young fast bowler, Zaman Khan bowled a brilliant last over and defended 12 runs to hand the victory to Lahore by 8 runs.
Zaman was named as player of the match for his magnificent performance with the ball. He picked up figures of 1/29 in his four overs which included an outstanding last over.
Pre-match
Islamabad United will face Lahore Qalandars in the 12th match of the PSL 2022 on Saturday, 5 February. The match, scheduled at Karachi’s National Stadium, will start at 2:30 pm PST.
Match Preview
Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars will battle for supremacy as both teams look to solidify their position at the second spot in the PSL 2022 points table. Currently, Islamabad United are ranked at number two while Lahore Qalandars are at third. Both teams have a similar record as they have won two and lost one out of their opening three matches in the competition. Islamabad’s brilliant net run rate has helped them inch above Lahore in second place.
Islamabad United have been one of the most exciting teams in the tournament. Their explosive batting unit has clicked and they have scored heavily throughout the tournament. They were outstanding in their previous match against Quetta Gladiators as they scored the highest total in the tournament so far. They were excellent with the ball in hand as well but they will be looking to improve their bowling at the backend of the innings.
Lahore have been unusually remarkable. Their batting has clicked with Fakhar Zaman in a rich vein of form and their world-class bowling attack has been irresistible in the tournament so far. Captain Shaheen Afridi has had a terrific start to his captaincy career and he will be looking towards his team to continue their fine run of form. They do look less than impressive in the field. They dropped six catches in their previous encounter and would need to turn around their fortunes quickly as not many teams will let these many chances go unpunished.
Both the teams are likely to enter the field with the same line-ups as their previous match. Both the teams are well-balanced and it should prove to be a cracker of a game.
Match Details
- Date Saturday, 5 February 2022
- Time 02:30 pm PKT
- Venue National Stadium Karachi
- Live Stream LINK
Check out the details of the match here.
Possible Playing XIs:
Islamabad Possible XI – Shadab Khan (c), Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Azam Khan (wk), Asif Ali, Mubasir Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Hasan Ali, Waqas Maqsood
Check out Islamabad’s full squad here
Lahore Possible XI – Shaheen Afridi (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hafeez, Zeeshan Ashraf (wk), David Wiese, Dean Foxcroft, Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
Check out Lahore’s full squad here
Head to Head
Overall, the two sides have come face to face 12 times in the tournament. United have an upper hand as they have won 8 while Qalandars have won 3. They last faced each other on 13 June 2021 in Abu Dhabi which Islamabad won by 28 runs wickets.
X-Factor
Colin Munro destroyed the Quetta bowling unit in his first match of PSL 7. He will be looking to continue his explosive form in the match and provide a solid foundation for Islamabad to kick on. Munro’s contribution with the bat provides United with unreal balance in their batting unit and they will be hoping that the experienced campaigner will continue where he left off in the last match.
Shaheen Afridi will be crucial for Qalandars in this match. His exploits in the first over in the innings are well known around the world and he will need to be at his usual best to tackle this jaw-dropping top order of Islamabad United. Shaheen will need to provide Lahore will early breakthroughs or else Islamabad’s batting unit has the ability to completely obliterate the opposition within the first few overs of the innings.
