Pakistan Super League 2020: Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi | Preview, predicted XIs, broadcast and live stream details

The 15th match of the tournament will take place between Peshawar Zalimi and Karachi Kings at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. This will be the second match between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi during this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) Season 5.

The first match was a high-scoring one where Babar Azam hit a brilliant 78 which was followed by a captain’s knock from Imad Wasim late in the innings to take the Kings past the 200-run mark.

Zalmi gave a good chase but fell short by just 10 runs after good performances from Kamran Akmal, Liam Livingstone, and Darren Sammy. The two teams will once again look to make this match a high scoring one in order to get their opponents out quickly in the second innings.

Peshawar Zalmi’s previous match against the Islamabad United was washed out, and they were awarded one point due to the result. They need to get more wins in this tournament as they are struggling on the points table and will be looking to end the round matches in the top threes.

They’ve banked their hopes on Kamran Akmal since the beginning of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and they will once again look at the veteran to score some runs at the top. Liam Livingstone and Lewis Gregory are the other two batsmen who’ll need to fire in this match. Haider Ali has shown a lot of promise and could be the dark horse in this clash again.

Their bowling has been decent so far with Umaid Asif, Wahab Riaz, and Mohmmad Mohsin giving good performances in separate innings. However, the entire pack needs to start working together so they can keep things tight against their opponents as the tournament is now reaching a very crucial stage.

Shoaib Malik will likely sit this one out too

Also see – IPL 2020 schedule

Karachi Kings have been performing the same way they have done over the past four seasons. Their performance has been top-notch one day and disappointing the other, showing that a change in coach was not all that was needed to fix the team.

Except for the first match against the Zalmis, the Kings have struggled more often than not and have failed to score wins even after coming close to their opponents. Their match against Multan Sultans saw them fold for just 134 runs while chasing a target of 186 on a batting-friendly pitch.

These things will bug captain Imad Wasim who has not been able to give consistent performances himself and needs to lead from the front. The entire batting line-up depends on Babar Azam, but other batsmen need to step up to the challenge too and take their team home. Alex Hales’ return has boosted their overall standing.

Kings’ bowling has been much better this year around with the inclusion of Chris Jordan who has joined Mohammad Amir. Imad Wasim needs to work on his performance with the ball as he hasn’t gotten much out of the pitches yet. The bowling unit needs to contain their opponents to a lower score which they’ve failed to do in the past.

Both teams are in hot water at the moment and they will be looking to score a victory in any way possible on this batting-friendly pitch. The match can go either way.

Karachi Kings have 2 points from 3 games while Peshawar Zalmi have 5 from 5.

Match details

Tournament: Pakistan Super League Season 5, 2020

Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

Date: March 2, 2020

Time: 7.00 PM PST onwards

Pitch report

Rawalpindi has proven to be a great host for cricket, and fans have been lining up to get into the stadium hours before the start of the matches.

We’ve seen some big scores on this ground so far, and the trend will continue as the pitch has been flat while the boundaries are shorter than the other stadiums in the country. Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators had a high scoring thrilling match just a few days ago, and these two teams have the firepower to replicate that match on this surface.

Predicted XIs

Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Awais Zia, Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton (Wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim (Captain), Chris Jordan, Umaid Asif, Umer Khan, and Mohammad Amir.

Peshawar Zalmi: Tom Baton, Kamran Akmal (Wicketkeeper), Haider Ali, Liam Livingstone, Lewis Gregory, Darren Sammy (Captain), Mohammad Mohsin, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir Khan, and Rahat Ali.