Islamabad United will lock horns against Peshawar Zalmi in the Eliminator contest at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Thursday. ISU won six out of the 10 matches they played and finished in third place in the standings.
On the other hand, PSZ won five matches out of the 10 league stage games and finished in fourth position to qualify for the playoff stages.
When these two teams met earlier in the season, Islamabad United won the first game by six wickets. However, PSZ were able to take their revenge as they won the second contest by 13 runs.
In fact, Zalmi defeated ISU in their last league stage match and that win must give them a lot of confidence while going into the knockout match. It will be a do-or-die match for both teams and the players will want to be on their toes.
Babar Azam has scored 416 runs in nine matches and he would want to lead PSZ from the front in the all-important fixture against Shadab Khan-led team.
On the other hand, Azam Khan has amassed 280 runs in eight innings for Islamabad United at an average of 46.66.
Match Prediction: Islamabad United will enter the contest as favorites against Peshawar Zalmi.
Peshawar Zalmi
Babar Azam, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Haris, Aamir Jamal, Salman Irshad, Tom-Kohler Cadmore, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Rovman Powell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Danish Aziz, Arshad Iqbal, Saim Ayub, Usman Qadir, Suifyan Muqeem, Haseeb Ullah, Jimmy Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail, Richard Gleeson (partial replacement for Rovman Powell), Peter Hatzoglou (partial replacement for Mujeeb ur Rahman).
Islamabad United
Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Colin Munro, Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abrar Ahmed, Sohaib Maqsood, Rumman Raees, Zeeshan Zamir, Hassan Nawaz, Moeen Ali (available from March 14), Mubasir Khan, Tom Curran, Zafar Gohar, Gus Atkinson (partial replacement for Rahmanullah Gurbaz), Tymal Mills (partial replacement for Alex Hales), Rassie van der Dussen (partial replacement for Moeen Ali).
