PSL Match 21: IU vs KK Preview

Islamabad United and Karachi Kings will lock horns in the 21st game of the Pakistan Super League 2022. 

Karachi’s horror show continues in PSL 2022. They have lost 6 consecutive games in the tournament. It’s very surprising that a team with Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Joe Clarke, Mohammad Nabi, etc is yet to win a game. Their batters and bowlers have failed miserably. Their batters, Babar in particular, hasn’t got any support from the others and he has played at an unacceptable strike-rate as well, putting pressure on the other batters. Their bowling has simply been ineffective as only Chris Jordan has done a decent job till now. They are most probably out of the play-offs race now but will look to play for pride and do well in the upcoming games.

Islamabad United are one of the strongest teams in the tournament and have been in good form as well. United are at the 3rd position with 3 wins and 3 defeats in 6 games. They are one of the strongest sides in the competition and have been doing well till now. The all-rounders and the big hitters at the top are their main strength and they have been consistent till now. They’ll need Hasan Ali to be back in form with the ball to complete their bowling attack as well. Islamabad started off the tournament really well and they have to be consistent in this middle-phase to make it to the next round.

Probable Playing 11

Karachi Kings: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam (c), Joe Clarke (wk), Sahibzada Farhaan, Ian Cockbain, Mohammad Nabi,Qasim Akram, Imad Wasim, Chris Jordan, Umaid Asif, Aamer Yamin, 

Islamabad United: Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Muhammad Akhlaq/Colin Munro, Shadab Khan (c), Azam Khan (wk), Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Liam Dawson, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Hasan Ali, Zeeshan Zameer

Pitch Report

All the matches in PSL 2022 have been high scoring and this match will be the same as well. The flat wicket at the Gaddafi stadium has seen teams scoring 200 and it has been chased down as well. The pitch is an excellent one for batting. Spinners will get some assistance but overall the batters will dominate the game. 180+ has been scored 5 times in the last 6 games.

Head to Head

Islamabad won the first encounter between these two sides in PSL 2022.

Overall: Islamabad United leads 11-6
Last 5 matches: Islamabad United leads 3-2
Batting 1st: Islamabad United leads 2-1
Batting 2nd: Islamabad United leads 9-5

Match Ups

Karachi Kings
Babar vs Hasan Ali: 86 runs off 86 balls with 3 dismissals
Sharjeel vs Hasan Ali: 67 runs off 41 balls with 4 dismissals
Gregory vs Shadab: 22 runs off 18 balls with 2 dismissals
Babar vs Shadab: 78 runs off 70 balls with 2 dismissals
Sharjeel vs Shadab: 29 runs off 7 balls with 0 dismissals
Babar vs Faheem: 73 runs off 58 balls with 1 dismissal
Babar vs M Wasim : 29 runs off 24 balls with 1 dismissals

Islamabad United
Gurbaz vs Imad: 10 runs off 8 balls with 1 dismissals
Hales vs Imad: 53 runs off 34 balls with 2 dismissals
Shadab vs Imad: 19 runs off 11 balls with 1 dismissals
Shadab vs Jordan: 22 runs off 18 balls with 2 dismissals
Hales vs Jordan: 33 runs off 24 balls with 2 dismissals
Asif Ali vs U Asif: 63 runs off 27 balls with 3 dismissals

Key Players

Karachi Kings

● Babar Azam: Skipper Babar Azam is the best batter from his team. He is amongst the best in the world as well. Babar scored 59 runs in the last game. He has a total of 253 runs in 6 games at an average of 50.60 but his strike-rate has been below average of only 120. He will need to score more quickly.

● Sharjeel Khan: Sharjeel Khan has scored 133 runs in 6 matches at an average of 22.16 and striking at only 12912. He is an attacking opener and started the tournament well but has failed after a couple of good innings. 

● Chris Jordan: Chris Jordan has picked 5 wickets in 2 games. He has been their best bowler in the last 2 games. His economy (9.54) is one the higher side and he’ll look to improve that. Jordan can score with the bat as well and will be a key player for Karachi.

Islamabad United

● Shadab Khan: Shadab Khan is in exceptional form in this year's PSL. He has scored 198 runs at an average of 39.60 at a strike-rate of 173.68 and is the highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets at an economy of 6.04. His strike-rate with the ball is just 8.4!

● Colin Munro: Munro for some reason didn’t play the last game but he should be playing this one. He has 165 runs in 3 matches and is averaging 82.5 at a strike-rate of 141. Munro will be very crucial for them batting at number 3.

● Alex Hales: Hales has been terrific at the top for Islamabad. He attacks from the first ball and is a game changer on his day. He is averaging 46 with a strike-rate of159.72 and has scored 230 runs in PSL 2022. He scored a brilliant 62 in the last match.

Fantasy Prediction

 Captain and Vice-Captain picks:

● Shadab Khan
● Alex Hales
● Hasan Ali (Risky, bowling 1st)
● Babar Azam (Chasing)

Dream 11 
Disclaimer:  This team is based on the writer's understanding of the game and does not guarantee to win in fantasy cricket. Users are advised to create their own teams with the information provided.