Islamabad United takes on Quetta Gladiators with Elimination on the line for both teams as they meet at the National Bank Arena to get past the eliminator 1.
The winner of this tie will meet Peshawar Zalmi in the eliminator 2 tomorrow and the winner of that game will eventually reach the final on March 18.
In this do-or-die game, everything is on the line for both Rilee Rossouw’s Quetta and Shadab Khan’s Islamabad United.
In 2017, United were in a similar situation as today and they failed to chase a target of 127 against Karachi Kings in Sharjah, the whole team crumbled at 82 runs.
To this day that is the lowest score that has been defended in the PSL by Karachi Kings but the question is will United keep their nerves intact this time??
Rilee Rossouw will make one big change in this game as Sherfane Rutherford might come back in the team which means that Laurie Evans might have to make way for him as a foreign player and Sarfraz might return for the Gladiators.
Who will replace Colin Munro if he does not play is a big question here and wicketkeeper Batter Jordan Cox or Haider Ali might have to play a makeshift opening batter role in this case.
Win the toss and bowl first that should be the mantra on this pitch after witnessing last night’s game.
Pitch Report:
The par score in the 1st innings during PSL 9 at the Karachi stadium is 172 and it has turned out to be a friendly wicket for teams batting second.
Teams batting 2nd have won 80% of the matches, which means that an above-par score is required on this particular pitch to defend it.
Peshawar Zalmi’s innings against the Multan Sultans was a testament that anything above 170 on this National Bank Arena pitch can be defended easily. The pitch can show signs of turn if there is moisture and that was visible in the Karachi vs Zalmi game.
However, both teams like to chase in the second innings. The openers will have to play the new ball steadily in the first 6 overs as there will be swing and seam early on in the innings.
You can check out the full PSL schedule here.
Head-to-Head Record:
| Team | Matches | Wins | Losses | No Result |
| Islamabad United | Â Â Â Â 19 | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| Quetta Gladiators | 9 | 9 | 1 |
Expected Playing XIs
Check out the PSL 9 squads here.
Islamabad United:
| Colin Munro/Haider Ali | Agha Salman | Azam Khan | Faheem Ashraf | Naseem Shah | Tymal Mills |
| Alex Hales | Shadab Khan | Jordan Cox | Imad Wasim | Hunain Shah |
Quetta Gladiators:
| Jason Roy | Rilee Roussouw (c) | Khawaja Nafay | Sherfane Rutherford | Â Mohammad Aamir | M. Husnain |
| Saud Shakeel | Omair Yousuf | Sarfraz Ahmed (wk) | Akeal Hossein | M.Wasim Jr. |
Check out the PSL 9 Points Table here.
