Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators, PSL 2020, Karachi: Preview, likely XI, predictions

This is a contest that has a lot more riding on it for Quetta Gladiators than it does for Karachi Kings. The home side – the match will be played in Karachi on Sunday, March 15 – have already qualified for the knockouts of PSL 2020. Quetta, meanwhile, are floundering in the bottom half of the table, knowing a defeat will likely knock them out of contention.

Quetta also have to compete with Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi for two remaining qualifying berths, and they are, safe to say, not the favourites to go through. Peshawar currently sit at No.3 in the six-team table, having played their final league match, and possessing nine points from their 10 matches. Lahore are much better placed, with eight points from nine matches, and one game to go.

Meanwhile, Quetta are struggling, bottom of the league at the time of writing, with seven points from nine matches, and a much-inferior run-rate than both of Peshawar and Lahore. They head in on the back of a four-match losing streak, and given how strong Karachi – the league toppers – have been this season, there really is very little hope for Quetta.

What they can do, however, is to play at their best level, and hope complacency sets in at Karachi, they having already qualified. It doesn’t look promising, but it’s not entirely unlikely either.

Key players

Babar Azam (Karachi Kings): Karachi possess the league’s top scorer, and given Quetta’s troubles, all it would likely take for them to snuff out any threat is a typical Babar knock. Going by his form this campaign, that doesn’t seem unlikely.

Mohammad Hasnain (Quetta Gladiators): If Quetta are to stop Babar, they need Hasnain to fire. He’s been one of the few positives for them this campaign, with 14 wickets in eight matches. If he clicks, Quetta might well come away from this with something to show for.

Likely XIs

Karachi Kings: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Cameron Delport, Umaid Asif, Chadwick Walton (wk), Ifthikar Ahmed, Imad Wasim (C), Chris Jordan, Usama Mir, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Amir

Quetta Gladiators: Khurram Manzoor, Shane Watson, Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & WK), Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Sohail Khan, Fawad Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Ahsan Ali

Prediction

Karachi to win.