The league stage of HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season seven has ended and now it is time for the playoffs with the top two sides eyeing the final spot.
History-maker Multan Sultans will be up against Lahore Qalandars in the Qualifier tonight at the jam-packed Gaddafi Stadium.
Sultans won nine matches in the league stage, becoming the first side to claim this many wins in a single edition of HBL PSL.
Meanwhile, Lahore Qalandars will have massive home support and they are also the only side to beat Sultans in the league stage.
Mohammad Rizwan led Sultans have been brilliant with both the bat and ball so far. Two of their batsmen (Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan) feature in the top-3 run-scorers of PSL 2022 while Tim David leads the six-hitting charts.
They will be without David unfortunately as he returned positive Covid-19 test in routine PCR testing.
But, they will have Rilee Rossouw and Khushdil Shah in their lineups who have been brilliant at accelerating during the death overs and ensuring that the Multan Sultans are never short of runs.
Sultans' bowling attack has a mix of experience. Imran Tahir and David Willey have had some excellent matches but Shahnawaz Dahani and Rumman Raees have had a forgettable PSL.
Interestingly, the slow wicket could play right into the hands of someone like Khushdil Shah who has been picking wickets with ease throughout the season.
Lahore Qalandars looked good in bits and pieces and have also lost two out of their most recent three matches and the second is their dependence on Fakhar Zaman with the bat.
Fakhar Zaman has scored more than 500 runs, becoming the third batter to score in a single edition of HBL PSL and Qalandars' batting majorly revolve around him.
Harry Brook has played brilliantly in a couple of matches and Phil Salt is capable of it, however, he has not lived up to expectations yet.
Meanwhile, Qalandars will not have the services of Rashid Khan as he left to Bangladesh to join Afghanistan's national team. The Qalandars have brought in Fawad Ahmed but he is nowhere close to being the same kind of threat.
Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf can never be counted out and they will end up shouldering the bulk of the responsibility with the ball.
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw, Sohaib Maqsood, Imran Tahir, Shan Masood, Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Tim David, Rumman Raees, Asif Afridi, Anwar Ali, Imran Khan Sr., Abbas Afridi, Amir Azmat, Blessing Muzarabani, Ihsanullah, David Willey, Rizwan Hussain
Lahore Qalandars: Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ahmed Daniyal, Fakhar Zaman, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Dean Foxcroft, Zaman Khan, Maaz Khan, Samit Patel, Syed Faridoun, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Akif Javed