PSL Match 28: QG vs KK Preview

The bottom two sides on the points table meet once again in PSL 2022. It’s Quetta Gladiators vs Karachi Kings in the 28th match of the tournament in Lahore. Both the sides are already out of the play-offs race and will look to play for pride and end their campaign on a winning note. 

Quetta Gladiators are at the 5th position with 3 wins and 6 defeats after 9 matches. Their lack of consistency and over reliance on the top order in the batting department are the main reasons for their league stage exit in PSL 2022. Initially Will Smeed and Ahsan Ali were the sole scorers for them and then when Jason Roy joined the squad he was their main run-scorer alongside Will Smeed. Quetta won when these three played well while they struggled very badly when they didn’t. Their middle-order seems to be non-existent with the likes of Sarfaraz Ahmed, James Vince, and Iftikhar Ahmed struggling badly barring one or two games. 

Their bowlers were very ineffective as well in the tournament. Only Naseem Shah did well with the ball picking up 12 wickets in 9 games while the second-highest was just 6 wickets. They lacked balance in the squad which led to their downfall this season. 

On the other hand, nothing has gone Karachi’s way in PSL 2022. They won their first game of the season against Lahore in their last match. Karachi had a record losing streak of 8 games before that. They are at the bottom in the points table with 1 win and 8 defeats. Their batters and bowlers failed miserably throughout the tournament. The bowlers did an excellent job in the last game but batters failed in that as well. The likes of Babar Azam, Mohammad Nabi, Imad Wasim, Sharjeel Khan, etc failed to be consistent. 

Their bowlers helped them break the losing streak and win the first game of the tournament. Mir Hamza and Chris Jordan were the heroes for them in the last game. They have nothing to lose in this game so we can see some youngsters getting a chance in this game and Karachi to play freely as well. 

Probable Playing XI

Quetta Gladiators: Jason Roy, Ahsan Ali, James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Umar Akmal, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Naseem Shah, Noor Ahmad, Ghulam Muddassar, Mohammad Irfan

Karachi Kings: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam (c), Joe Clarke (wk), Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nabi, Qasim Akram, Rohail Nazir (wk), Imad Wasim, Chris Jordan, Usman Shinwari, Mir Hamza

Pitch Report

Another excellent strip for batting. The ball will come nicely onto the bat on this flat wicket. The day games have been very high scoring and this one is expected to be the same as well. Teams will look to bat first and put a big total on the board. Spinners will get some turn when the ball has lost its shine. 

Head to Head

Overall: Quetta leads 8-5
Last 5 matches: Quetta leads 3-2
This Season: Quetta won by 8 wickets with 26 balls remaining

Match Ups

Quetta Gladiators
Vince vs Nabi: 47 runs off 44 balls with 4 dismissals
Roy vs Imad: 76 runs off 50 balls with 2 dismissals
Iftikhar vs Imad: 17 runs off 16 balls with 1 dismissal

Karachi Kings
Babar vs Tanvir: 50 runs off 53 balls with 2 dismissals
Sharjeel vs Tanvir: 24 runs off 18 balls with 2 dismissals
Nabi vs Tanvir: 34 runs off 17 balls with no dismissals
Sharjeel vs Naseem: 3 runs off 10 balls with 1 dismissal
Babar vs M Irfan: 100 runs off 93 balls with 1 dismissal

Key Players

Quetta Gladiators 

● Jason Roy: Roy is amongst the best openers in the shortest format and has played up to his name in PSL 2022. He has scored a century and a half-century in the 5 matches he has played and has 221 runs at an average of 44.20, striking at 193.85. Roy will look to end his PSL 2022 with a bang in the last game. 

● Will Smeed: Smeed has been excellent at the top for Quetta. He has scored 230 runs in 5 games. He’s averaging 46 and his strike-rate is 140.24. Smeed has missed out on a hundred twice and might finally get there in this game. 

● Umar Akmal: Umar Akmal has been phenomenal in the limited opportunities he has got in the tournament. He has been playing at a very high strike-rate. Akmal has scored 99 runs in 4 innings at an average of 24.75 and striking at 186.79. He scored 50 off 23 balls in the last match including 6 sixes. 

Karachi Kings

● Babar Azam: Babar has been the best batter for Karachi. He has 307 runs at an average of 38.37 and his strike-rate has been 120.39. He has scored 3 fifties as well. Babar will look to end the season with a big score. 

● Mir Hamza: Mir Hamza has added life to the Karachi bowling attack. He has picked 7 wickets in 3 games including a 4-fer in the last match against Lahore. He has been exceptional and will look to continue his good form in this game. 

● Chris Jordan: Jordan has picked  9 wickets in this season. He has mainly bowled in the death overs so his economy is on the higher side with 9.45. Jordan bowled well in the last game picking up 2 wickets. He is handy with the bat as well and it will be his responsibility to pick wickets in the death overs.

Fantasy Tips 

Top captain and vice-captain choices:

● Babar Azam (Chasing)
● Jason Roy
● Mir Hamza
● Joe Clarke (Risky, try in mega leagues)

Dream11 Team