In the 12th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021, Islamabad United (ISL) will face Quetta Gladiators (QUE) on Tuesday, March 3. Quetta Gladiators are at the the bottom of the table whereas, Islamabad United is sitting at 4th in the league table.

The start of the season was pretty good for Islamabad United until their 6-wicket defeat to Peshawar Zalmi in the last match. In their last match, ISL was bowled out for just 118 runs in 17.1 overs. Apart from Alex Hales (41 runs from 27 balls) and Hasan Ali (Two for 14 after 4 overs), no other batsman in the team performed well that night.

The Quetta Gladiators, on the other hand, have not won a single match this season till now. They have lost each of their last three matches in the competition. They are currently at the bottom of the league table. So far, no team has secured a victory by batting first in this campaign. There’s a chance that it changes tonight.

Pitch

The pitch at the National Stadium has behaved like a bowler’s nightmare so far. Teams have made a large amount of runs very easily. But the pitch gives chasing team an advantage. The temperature is expected to be around 27 degrees Celsius.

Probable XIs for both sides:

Islamabad United: Phil Salt (WK), Alex Hales, Shadab Khan (C), Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Lewis Gregory, Zafar Gohar, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr.

Quetta Gladiators: Tom Banton, Saim Ayub, Faf du Plessis, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & WK), Azam Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Ben Cutting, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Shinwari, Zahid Mahmood. 

Squads:

Islamabad United: Phil Salt (WK), Alex Hales, Shadab Khan (C), Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Lewis Gregory, Zafar Gohar, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Paul Stirling, Ali Khan, Fawad Ahmed, Muhammad Musa, Rohail Nazir (wk), Zeeshan Zameer.

Quetta Gladiators: Tom Banton, Saim Ayub, Faf du Plessis, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & WK), Azam Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Ben Cutting, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Shinwari, Zahid Mahmood, Abdul Nasir, Cameron Delport, Hassan Khan, Usman Khan, Naseem Shah, Qais Ahmed.

Players to watch out for:

Alex Hales- Islamabad United

Alex Hales is currently the leading run-scorer for the United in the tournament. In three matches, he has 116 runs at an average and strike-rate of 38.66 and 170.58 respectively. The other United batters haven’t shown much form and hence, Hales can’t afford to drop his guard by any means.

Faf du Plessis– Quetta Gladiators

Faf du Plessis has replaced Chris Gayle in the Gladiators and he has been able to make an impact right away. In his first game, Faf managed 37 runs at a decent strike-rate of 142.30. He came to bat at number three and guided his team. The Gladiators would be looking for another decent knock.

Head-to-Head Stats

Overall

Played- 11

ISL won- 4

QUE won- 7

N/R- 0

Season Stats

Average first innings score this season: 168 (10 matches in PSL 2021)

Record of chasing teams this seasons: Won- 10 | Lost- 0

Prediction:

Islamabad United is expected to win tonight’s match.

Match: PSL Match- Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators

Venue: National Stadium, Karachi

Date: March 2 (Tuesday), 2021

Time: 7:30 PM IST/7:00 PM local

Where to watch:

TV Channels: Sony HD/ Sony Six

Live Streaming: SonyLiv App