Preview

Multan Sultans will take on Islamabad United on Saturday in the ultimate match of PSL 2021’s group stage.   

With two massive victories over Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars, Multan Sultans have all but confirmed their qualification for the play-offs. They are currently positioned 2nd on the points table with the highest net run-rate among all six sides. The Mohammad Rizwan-led team has been exceptional since the start of the Abu Dhabi leg and have won all of their last four matches. While the batting has been thoroughly consistent, it is the Sultans’ pace battery coupled with the prowess of Imran Tahir that has propelled them towards this winning streak. In particular, the sparkling young pacer, Shahnawaz Dahani, has taken the PSL 2021 by storm with a plethora of wickets and is currently the leading wicket-taker in this year’s competition. 

On the contrary, Islamabad United have already qualified for the play-offs and will be looking to gather some momentum from their last group-stage duel. Their batting order has been in red-hot form ever since the resumption of PSL 2021 with the likes of Colin Munro, Usman Khawaja, Asif Ali, and Iftikhar Ahmed chipping in with crucial contributions. The two-time champions may look to test their bench strength ahead of the play-offs and may rest of their key players like they did in the previous match against Peshawar Zalmi. 

Match Detailultan Sultans v Islamabad United.

Date & Time: June 19, 2021 - 11.00 PM PST.

Venue:

Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Predicted Playing XIs

Multan Sultans: 

Shan Masood, Mohd Rizwan (c&wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Johnson Charles, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Imran Khan, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani and Shahnawaz Dhani

Islamabad United: 

Usman Khawaja (c), Colin Munro, Brandon King, Asif Ali, Akhlaq Mohd (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Zafar Gohar, Fawad Ahmed, Hasan Ali and Akif Javed

Fantasy XI 

Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Maqsood, Usman Khawaja, Rilee Rossouw, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Sohail Tanvir, Shahnawaz Dhani (c), Imran Tahir (vc), Hasan Ali and Fawad Ahmed

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.