Pakistan Super League 2020, Multan Sultans vs Karachi Kings | Preview, predicted XIs, where and when to watch and live stream details

With the matches going by so quickly, it feels like just yesterday when these two teams took on each other in this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL). Multan Sultans hosted Karachi Kings for their previous game, but they will be playing at a neutral venue in Lahore for their second encounter.

The Sultans outperformed Karachi in every department during their previous match and have proven to be the superior team in this year’s PSL so far. Karachi have a lot of catching up to do as we are halfway through the tournament and the points table is still shuffling after every match.

Multan Sultans’ batsmen are doing a great job this year and have given their team a lot of runs to work with in the first innings. They scored 186 in their last match against Karachi, while Rilee Rossouw took them to 199 after a whirlwind century against Quetta Gladiators. Shan Masood, Zeeshan Ashraf, and Moeen Ali have been solid at the top after an early reshuffle of the line-up that has proven to work well for the team.

Imran Tahir has spun webs around Multan’s opponents in almost every game while Mohammad Ilyas and Sohail Tanvir have been a handful for the other teams. Collectively, the Multan team has worked well together and have been working off each other’s performance.

Karachi Kings have been incredibly inconsistent this season; they’ve found themselves on top of their opponents in one clash and completely deflated in the other. Babar Azam has done a lot for his team already, and his previous performance against Peshawar Zalmi proved that he really never is out of form.

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The inclusion of Alex Hales in the line-up has provided the team with some much-needed power hitting while Sharjeel Khan seems to be finding his footing once again. Cameron Delport needs to get in his zone once again too as the Kings rely on him to hold the innings together in tough times.

Chris Jordan and Mohammad Amir have been leading the Kings’ bowling and Umar Khan’s inclusion in the team has been a good one. Kings will need to restrict their opponents to a smaller total as their bowlers have a tendency to give away too many runs at crucial stages and letting their opponents slip out of tense situations.

This will be an evenly fought contest at a neutral ground but Multan will hold the edge in this one as they seem to be in good form in this tournament.

Match details

Tournament: Pakistan Super League Season 5, 2020

Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

Date: 6th March 2020

Time: 7.00 PM PST onwards

Pitch report

With a high chance of rain in Lahore, this match could have a rain-affected start or could face some interruptions in the middle. However, the chances of a washout are slim as the ground has the facilities to recover after rain.

Lahore hasn’t had many high scoring games but the firepower in these two teams could give the ground its first mammoth total. Spin will play a key role in this one and we will see Imran Tahir on the Multan side while the Kings will rely on Imad Wasim and Umer Khan.

Multan could call Shahid Afridi back for this game.

Predicted XIs

Multan Sultans: Shan Masood (Captain), James Vince, Moeen Ali, Rilee Rossouw, Khushdil Shah, Zeeshan Ashraf (Wicketkeeper), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Muhammad Ilyas, Bilawal Bhatti, and Imran Tahir.

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