Peshawar Zalmi Monday won the toss and opted to bowl against Quetta Gladiators in the ninth match of the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi.

Quetta versus Peshawar is arguably the second biggest rivalry after Lahore-Karachi and there have been some fascinating contests between these two sides over the years.

Quetta have outsmarted Peshawar on eight occasions while Peshawar got the better of them in 11 games.

This match is significant to both Quetta and Peshawar since both teams have two points each after two games and are slotted at the fourth and fifth positions on the points table, respectively. However, the winner of today’s match will jump to the second position on the table.

In their first match, Quetta were trounced by Multan Sultans but bounced back to defeat Karachi Kings in their next game.

Meanwhile, Zalmi won a close match against Kings to begin their campaign but were thumped by Multan in their second encounter.

The record for the best bowling figures in a match between Quetta and Peshawar is held by Shahid Afridi, who bagged figures of 5-7 against the Gladiators in 2016.

Wahab Riaz conceded the most runs, 54, in an innings during the match between Quetta and Peshawar in 2021. Quetta were dismissed for only 90 runs against Peshawar in Lahore in 2017, which is currently the lowest total in a match between the two sides.

Zalmi’s joint-largest victory, by runs, came in a match against Quetta, when they won by 61 runs in Abu Dhabi in 2021.

Squads:

Quetta Gladiators Playing 11: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hafeez, Odean Smith, Iftikhar Ahmed, Martin Guptill, Wahid Bangulzai, Jason Roy, Qais Ahmed

Peshawar Zalmi Playing 11: Babar Azam, Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell, Dasun Shanaka, Jimmy Neesham, Wahab Riaz, Usman Qadir, Arshad Iqbal, Sufyan Muqeem.