Multan Sultans celebrating their win against Peshawar Zalmi (photo - Getty Images)
Multan Sultans will face off Peshawar Zalmi in the first Semifinal of Pakistan Super League 2020 in Lahore tomorrow.
Multan Sultans finished the league stage as table toppers with six wins from ten matches and they will look to continue their good run. Though the departure of batsmen James Vince and Rillie Rossouw have weakened their batting a bit and in their absence captain Shan Masood, Moeen Ali, Ravi Bopara, Zeeshan Ashraf and Khushdil Shah have to take the responsibility and in bowling they have an inform attack of Tahir, Tanvir and Mohammed Irfan. On the other hand, Peshwar Zalmi too will be without Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Lewis Gregory and Carlos Brathwaite and batting will rely on Kamran Akmal, Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik. In bowling captain Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali and Rahat Ali have to be more consistent. This game will be more like a domestic game of Pakistan players and it should be an exciting contest.
Match Details :
Match : MUL vs PES, Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi, 1st Semifinal, Pakistan Super League 2020
Date : 17 March 2020
Time : 2.30 PM IST
Venue : Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Head to Head :
T20 Matches – 6
Multan Sultans won – 4
Peshawar Zalmi won – 2
Multan Sultans have been the best team in the league stage of this Pakistan Super League while Peshawar Zalmi have been averages. On the basis of their performances in league stage we’ll analyse them ahead of this encounter and will also make cricket match prediction.
Strengths : Multan Sultans have a balanced side as their batsmen as well as bowlers are stepping up. Captain Masood, Moeen Ali, Zeeshan Ashraf and Khushdil Shah have played good knocks and that will boost their confidence too and in the bowling Tanvir, Imran Tahir and Mohammed Irfan have been consistent since the start and they will hope that their good run will continue. On the other hand, Peshawar Zalmi’s strength is their batting as Kamran Akmal, Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik all have played big match winning knocks and once again they have to step up.
Weaknesses : The departure of James Vince and Rillie Rossouw have weakened Multan’s batting a bit and if couple of early wickets fall they can be in trouble. On the other hand, Peshawar’s bowling attack is their weakness as Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz and Hasan have been inconsistent and also they don’t have a finisher and all load will be on their top order batsmen.
As we have already discussed Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi’s performance in the league stage and after comparing these two teams’ squad and performances it’s safe to say that Multan Sultans is a stronger team than Peshawar Zalmi and our today match prediction is that Multan Sultans is favourite for this match and in this day match toss will also not matter much as there will be no due. However both the sides would love to chase.
Following are the odds for this match on two most famous betting sites –
Bet365 : Multan Sultans : 1.72, Peshawar Zalmi : 2.10
Betway : Multan Sultans : 1.66, Peshawar Zalmi : 2.15
On the basis of performances of both sides in this season of Pakistan Super League following players are good picks for fantasy cricket teams
Multan Sultans :
Shan Masood – 253 runs at 31.62 in 8 innings
Khushdil Shah – 175 runs at 43.75 in 8 innings
Sohail Tanvir / Imran Tahir – 10 wickets in 7 innings each
Peshawar Zalmi :
Kamran Akmal – 251 runs at 27.9 in 9 innings
Shoaib Malik – 239 runs at 34.1 in 7 innings
Wahab Riaz – 11 wickets at 23.18 in 9 innings
Haider Ali – 239 runs at 29.87 in 9 innings
We have already talked about Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi’s performances in the league stage of this season of Pakistan Super League and for dream11 prediction teams Shoaib Malik, Imran Tahir, Sohain Tanvir, Shan Masood and Kamran Akmal are must picks and the likes of Haider Ali, Wahab Riaz and Moeen Ali too can be picked as per their credit values.