Lahore Qalandars have won the toss and opted to bat first against Peshawar Zalmi in the 15th match of the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.

It is the first match of the PSL’s 8th edition that is being played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. 

Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and decided to bat first. Baber Azam is leading the Peshawar Zalmi.    

This is a contest between two evenly poised sides.

Qalandars are having an impressive run in the current PSL edition. They have won 2 out of 3 games so far and find themselves on the second position in the points table.  

Zalmi have slipped to number fourth position in the points table after suffering a defeat against Islamabad United on Thursday. They have so far won 2 out of 4 fixtures in the ongoing PSL tournament. 

Both teams have endured close and one-sided encounters in their earlier fixtures making this game a very exciting contest.   

Qalandars have not got any of their strategies wrong. Their top 3 have been firing consistently and getting their team to great starts. Their bowling has been in control specially during the middle and death overs. Barring their one defeat which came against Karachi Kings by a heavy margin, Qalandars looks like a more balanced side. 

On the other hand, Zalmi had their ups and downs in the PSL edition. They won the opening game with a narrow margin and suffered a heavy defeat against the top ranked Multan Sultans. However, they made a recovery after their second game and registered a confident looking victory against Quetta. But again, in their 4th game they lost badly to United pushing them further down the points table. 

 

With both teams eyeing for a crucial win at this stage, we expect this to be a very exciting contest and recommend Qalandars to edge past Zalmi.

Squads:

Lahore Qalandars Squad: Mirza Tahir Baig, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Shai Hope(w), Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Afridi(c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Liam Dawson, Jordan Cox, Dilbar Hussain, Ahmed Daniyal, Jalat Khan, Shawaiz Irfan

Peshawar Zalmi Squad: Mohammad Haris(w), Babar Azam(c), Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell, James Neesham, Dasun Shanaka, Wahab Riaz, Usman Qadir, Arshad Iqbal, Sufiyan Muqeem, Salman Irshad, Danish Aziz, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sherfane Rutherford, Haseebullah Khan, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad