The first of the two Eliminators of PSL 2021 matches will be played between 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi and the defending champions Karachi Kings. Both teams had won five from their ten group matches and will be playing a vital knock-out match in PSL 6 Eliminator.
Match details:
- Eliminator 1: Peshawar Zalmi vs Karachi Kings
- Date: 21st June 2021
- Day: Monday
- Venue: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
- Time: 11:00 PM PST, 10:00 PM Local Time
Pitch and Weather Report:
Out of all the sixteen matches that have been played in the UAE, ten matches have been won batting first regardless of the toss. Teams lately preferred to defend the total and it has been successful. We can expect the captains to win the toss and bat first.
The match will begin at 5 PM local time with the temperatures remains to be the same at 35 odd degrees celsius with about 65% humidity.
Squads to select from:
Peshawar Zalmi:
Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali, David Miller, Rovman Powell, Imam ul Haq, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Fabian Allen, Mohammad Imran, Shoaib Malik, Bismillah Khan, Umaid Asif, Abrar Ahmed, Kamran Akmal, Fidel Edwards, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Waqar Salamkheil, Wahab Riaz
Karachi Kings:
Babar Azam, Martin Guptill, Najibullah Zardan, Mohammad Haris, Imad Wasim, Aamer Yamin, Sharjeel Khan, Zeeshan Malik, Danish Aziz, Qasim Akram, Thisara Parera, Chadwick Walton, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Ilyas, Noor Ahmed, Waqas Maqsood
Predicted Playing XI:
Kings: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Martin Guptill, Najibullah Zardan, Chadwick Walton (wk), Imad Wasim (c), Danish Aziz, Mohammad Ilyas, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Amir
Zalmi: Kamran Akmal (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Umaid Asif, Wahab Riaz (c), Abrar Ahmed, Sameen Gul, Mohammad Irfan
PSL 6 Eliminator Match Preview:
Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings have met each other twice in the playoffs. They met in 2017 and 2018, both in the second eliminator where Peshawar defeated Karachi both times.
For Karachi Kings, who won only two of five matches in the Abu Dhabi leg (both coming in their recent matches), they will be hoping to keep their momentum and look to defeat Peshawar to qualify further. Their batting is good enough to post scores of 170s, but their bowling still needs some work. They don’t have a good record in the middle overs, which mostly takes their game away. They will be looking to bowl tightly.
Peshawar Zalmi however will be more confident of winning their eliminator match given their history over Karachi and their recent form with the bat. Their batsmen are in very good form and given the lack of Karachi’s middle over bowling control, Peshawaz batsmen will look to capitalize in those overs. They bowled well against Karachi in the group stage, with the young leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed taking three for just 14 runs to restrict them to just 108. They will be looking to put on a strong all-around performance against the defending champions to go a step further in the competition.
