Ahead of Sunday’s Pakistan Super League final between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Paul Radley provides all the information you need, including start time, key matchups and head to head record.
HBL Pakistan Super League Final: Quetta Gladiators v Peshawar Zalmi, Sunday night, scheduled to start at 7pm UAE time, live on OSN Cricket HD
PSL final preview: For Wahab Riaz and Pakistani players, a return to Lahore makes all the difference
Head to head
Match 9, Sharjah: Peshawar v Quetta — no result
Match 19, Dubai: Peshawar beat Quetta by two wickets
First qualifying final, Sharjah: Quetta beat Peshawar by one run
Key battles
Ahmed Shahzad (Quetta) v Hasan Ali (Peshawar)
Hasan, who still qualifies as an emerging player despite being arguably Pakistan’s foremost white-ball bowler at present, is a canny operator in the late overs. He has provided a valuable turn with the new ball at the start of the innings in this PSL, too, though. If he can get at Shahzad, who has been in princely touch of late, early on then Peshawar will be ahead of the game.
Sarfraz Ahmed (Quetta) v Wahab Riaz (Peshawar)
Wahab has been playing the business end of the PSL right on the edge. That manifested itself in some tears when Peshawar finally secured their place in the final. His performances with the ball have been increasingly forceful. He will be bowling the pressure overs, which will likely pit him in direct conflict with Sarfraz, Pakistan’s limited-overs captain. The winner of that battle will likely take the trophy.
Zulfiqar Babar (Quetta) v Kamran Akmal (Peshawar)
Akmal has enjoyed quite the renaissance in this series, notching 313 runs, including the only century in this year’s competition. He has struggled in all three matches so far against Sunday night’s opposition. And he has fallen to left-arm spin on each occasion. He is likely to be pitted against Zulfiqar at the start, and Quetta will want to get him early.
Leading run scorers
Quetta
1. Rilee Rossouw, 255 (strike rate 123.18)
2= Ahmed Shahzad, 241 (strike rate 135.39)
2= Kevin Pietersen, 241 (strike rate 151.57)
Peshawar
1. Kamran Akmal, 313 (strike rate 129.87)
2. Shahid Afridi, 177 (strike rate 173.52)
3. Dawid Malan, 158 (strike rate 138.59)
Leading wicket-takers
Quetta
1. Mohammed Nawaz, 9 wickets (economy rate 8.58)
2= Hasan Khan, 7 wickets (economy rate 6.76)
2= Tymal Mills, 7 wickets (economy rate 7.25)
Peshawar
1 Wahab Riaz, 13 wickets (economy rate 6.33)
2 Hasan Ali, 10 wickets (economy rate 7.48)
3 Chris Jordan, 7 wickets (economy rate 7.18)
pradley@thenational.ae
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