Islamabad United take on Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League, Season 9, at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
Islamabad will be without their first-choice opener, Alex Hales, but have been rejuvenated through the presence of Martin Guptill. Hales will miss the Zalmi encounter but will return for the match against Karachi Kings on February 28.
The capital outfit sit unsafe outside the Top 4 standings, as they try to build momentum and take it through to the Playoffs. They have gathered two points from the three matches played.
Sitting right above them, Peshawar Zalmi has four points from four matches. Their net run-rate is worse than Islamabad which makes a case for them trying hard to not lose the match and go outside the top 4.
PZ batters Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Rovman Powell, and Haseebullah have had a decent season, but their individual performances aren’t resulting in team wins. PZ defeated Lahore Qalandars by 8 runs in their last match. Their total, 211-4, was powered by Saim Ayub’s 88-run knock.
English pacer, Luke Wood, has been impressive with the ball for PZ. He has picked 6 wickets at an average of 19.67 with an economy of 7.45 in PSL 9.
Pitch Report
Lahore’s stadium is known to be a batter’s paradise. Teams fancy chasing any target below 200 (as we have seen two teams falter whenever reaching a target of above 200 in PSL 9).
Winning the toss and electing to field first seems to be the winning formula 9 out of 10 times. Restricting the batting side to under 200 in the first innings is another winning solution.
You can check out the full PSL schedule here
Head-to-Head Record
| Team | Matches | Wins | Losses |
| Islamabad United | 21 | 10 | 11 |
| Peshawar Zalmi | 11 | 10 |
Expected Playing XIs
Check out the PSL 9 squads here
Islamabad United:
| Colin Munro | Martin Guptill | Agha Salman | Shadab Khan (C) | Azam Khan (WK) | Jordan Cox |
| Imad Wasim | Faheem Ashraf | Naseem Shah | Hunain Shah | Rumman Raees |
Peshawar Zalmi:
| Saim Ayub | Babar Azam (C) | Rovman Powell | Haseebullah Khan (WK) | Mohammad Haris | Paul Walter |
| Asif Ali | Luke Wood | Naveen-ul-Haq | Salman Irshad | Arif Yaqoob |
Check out the PSL 9 Points Table here
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