Karachi Kings take on Multan Sultans: Likely lineups for PSL qualifier

Multan Sultans will face Karachi Kings in the qualifier of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with the playoffs for season five beginning today at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The winner of the qualifier will confirm a berth in the much-anticipated final, to be played on November 17, while the losing team will await the winner of the eliminator 1 — to be played between Qalandars and Zalmi — in the eliminator 2, which is scheduled for Sunday evening.

Multan Sultans were table-toppers at the end of the double-league round-robin group-stage by winning six out their 10 matches. While two of their matches ended in no-result due to rain, they faced defeat in the other two.

Captain Shan Masood occupies the sixth spot in the list for the tournament’s highest run-scorers with 253 runs at 31.62 and a strike-rate of 128.42.

Among the bowlers, left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir and leg-spinner Imran Tahir occupy the fourth and fifth spot having taken 10 wickets each at 15.30 and 18.60 respectively.

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Meanwhile, all-rounder Imad Wasim-led Kings took the second spot by registering five wins out of 10 matches. They lost four matches and their one fixture was washed out due to rain.

Kings possess one of the most exciting top-orders in the playoffs with Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam joined by England’s Alex Hales.

The recently appointed all-format Pakistan captain Babar heads the tournament run-scorers list with 345 runs in nine innings at 49.28 with the help of three fifties.

Among the bowlers, Mohammad Amir is placed at number six with 10 wickets in nine matches at 26.20.

Likely lineups:

Karachi: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Chadwick Walton (wk), Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood

Multan: Zeeshan Ashraf (wk), Shan Masood (c), Brendan Taylor, Rilee Rossouw, Ravi Bopara, Khushdil Shah, Shahid Afridi, Imran Tahir, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Ilyas