Lahore Qalandars Monday won the toss and elected to bat first in the 16th match of the eighth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Defending champions Lahore Qalandars are facing two-time champions Islamabad United for the first time in the ongoing season.

Both sides will be confident and ready for a challenge as each has won their last game convincingly. United beat Quetta Gladiators in Karachi whereas Qalandars defeated Peshawar Zalmi last night in Lahore.

Home side Lahore created history in the eighth edition of the PCB-convened annual cricket tournament by hitting the highest total of this season thus far.

With a resounding display of power-hitting in the 15th PSL fixture, the batters piled up a huge total of 241 runs in Sunday's match against Peshawar Zalmi. The awe-inspiring performance resulted in them achieving the highest total of the PSL 8 so far and the third-highest total in the PSL's history.

https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1630199908849287168

Lahore Qalandars have played four matches so far in the eighth edition of PSL, and they have won three of them.

The team had been defeated in their second match against Karachi Kings. Tonight’s match will be their fifth in PSL 8.

On the other hand, Islamabad United have also played four matches so far in PSL 8, and they have won three of them.

The team had been defeated in their second match against Multan Sultans. They too are playing their fifth match tonight.

United are currently second on the points table with six points, with Qalandars trailing right behind them on the third position with the same points.

Since the first PSL season in 2016, United and Qalandars have faced each other in 15 matches. Two-time PSL champions United have a lead over Qalandars with eight wins out of fifteen. Qalandars, who had tough luck during the first four seasons, beat United six times. One match between the two teams ended in no-result. However, Qalandars have won last three encounters between two teams consecutively.

The record for the largest victory between the two formidable sides belongs to United, who beat Qalandars by 71 runs during their encounter in PSL 2020 in Lahore.

Fakhar Zaman of Qalandars managed to score the highest individual runs for Qalandars against United. The left-handed batter smashed 324 runs altogether.

United's current skipper Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf together have the most wickets between the two teams. They have taken 18 wickets each since they joined the two-time champion team.

Squads:

Lahore Qalandars playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Mirza Tahir Baig, Abdullah Shafiq, Sam Billings, Hussain Talat, Rashid Khan, Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan

Islamabad United playing XI: Colin Munro, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rassie van Der Dussen, Shadab Khan (c), Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Tom Curran, Zeeshan Zameer, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed.