PSL 5 playoffs: Likely lineups for eliminator between Qalandars, Zalmi

Lahore Qalandars will face Peshawar Zalmi in the first eliminator of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) playoffs at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday evening.

The loser of this match will be knocked out of the tournament, while the winner will face the loser of the qualifier, between Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings, to book a place in the final.

Qalandars roared back in contention after a poor start to the tournament with some exhilarating performances led by the Australia duo of Ben Dunk and Chris Lynn. They finished the group-stage with five wins in 10 games.

While Lynn is unavailable for the playoffs, Qalandars still have Dunk who is expected to be joined by Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal in the team’s top-order.

Dunk occupies the third-spot in the batting charts having scored 266 runs at 53.20 at a stunning strike-rate of 186.01. Dunk’s 23 sixes are the most so far by any batsman in the tournament.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Kings, Sultans pay tribute to Dean Jones before PSL qualifier

The leading wicket-taker in the T20 format in 2020, Shaheen Shah Afridi will breathe fire to the Qalandars attack in the playoffs.

In the group-stage, the left-armer took 13 wickets in nine matches at 18.92.

Zalmi sneaked through to the playoffs despite a difficult run in the group stage where they won four out of their 10 matches but maintained a net run-rate that was good enough for them to edge past Quetta Gladiators.

The most prolific batsman in HBL PSL history, Kamran Akmal, with 1,537 runs, is currently placed at the seventh-spot in the batting charts for the 2020 edition with 251 runs at 27.88 and a strike-rate of 161.93.

Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz, with 11 wickets in nine matches, is placed at number three in the chart for the highest wicket-takers. He has taken his wickets at 23.18.

Likely lineups:

Lahore: Tamim Iqbal, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Sohail Akhtar (c), Samit Patel, David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Dilbar Hussain, Usman Shinwari

Peshawar: Kamran Akmal (wk), Faf du Plessis, Haider Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Carlos Brathwaite, Hardus Viljoen, Wahab Riaz (c), Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Saqib Mahmood