Preview

Islamabad United will lock horns with Peshawar Zalmi in the first match of the PSL 2021 double-header on Thursday.  

The Shadab Khan-led Islamabad United have been supremely impressive in the 2nd leg of this year’s PSL. They are the first team to qualify for the play-offs and are currently reigning the points table with 12 points from 8 games. Having comprehensively beaten the Qalandars, Kings, and Gladiators, the Men in Orange now turn their eyes to Peshawar Zalmi. The devastation caused by Colin Munro at the top of the order has been emulated fairly well by the middle-order. On the bowling front, the local pace prodigies have been highly reliable while the skipper has found a bit of a bowling mojo himself, too.  

Peshawar Zalmi are placed second on the points table with 5 wins and 4 losses. With a solitary outing remaining, Wahab Riaz’s team will be keen to defeat the table-toppers tonight and secure their qualification. They will take a lot of motivation from the previous encounter between these two teams in Karachi where Zalmi emerged triumphant by 6 wickets. Hazratullah Zazai showcased his power-striking ability in his very first appearance in the PSL against Karachi Kings where he wreaked havoc. His inclusion at the top of the batting order will pose a serious threat to the opposition with the in-form Sherfane Rutherford and Shoaib Malik playing supporting roles in the middle-order. Peshawar’s seasoned bowlers, Wahab and Mohammad Irfan, will need to shoulder most of the responsibility of the pace-bowling battery.

Match Details

Match: Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi.

Date & Time: June 17, 2021 - 6.00 PM PST.

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Predicted Playing XIs

Islamabad United: Usman Khawaja, Colin Munro, Rohail Nazir (wk), Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Hasan Ali, Akif Javed, Ali Khan and Mohammad Wasim Jr

Peshawar Zalmi: Kamran Akmal (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Irfan and Sameen Gul

Fantasy XI 

Kamran Akmal (c), Shoaib Malik, Colin Munro (vc), Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Mohd Irfan, Umaid Asif, Hasan Ali and Mohd Wasim Jr

Pitch Report and Weather Conditions

No pattern has emerged in Abu Dhabi as far as the 2nd leg of PSL 2021 is concerned. A glimpse at recent results suggests that the mercurialness of the tracks on offer is a factor to consider. While teams have managed to chase down totals in excess of 190 runs, there have been instances where totals in the vicinity of 150 have been difficult to chase down. Both captains are, however, still likely to prefer chasing in these conditions with the dew factor becoming much more prominent later in the night. As far as the weather conditions are concerned, temperatures are usually high during daytime and begin to fall to lower 30s (degrees Celsius) in night.