Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi battle against each other in the 16th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League season in Dubai, which will also be the first of the doubleheader on Friday.
With only two more matches to play in the group stages for both the teams, they will want to make the most of today's match. Lahore, who lost their early-season clash against Peshawar, are sitting pretty at the second spot on the table and a win today will all but ensure them a berth in the play-offs.
On the other hand, Peshawar, who are reeling at the second last spot with only two wins from six games, need nothing less than a win to stay alive in the tournament.
Peshawar need a strong performance today to lift their confidence as they have been winless in their last three outings, which includes the washed out game against Quetta Gladiators on 17 February and their back-to-back defeats to strugglers Karachi Kings and table-toppers Islamabad United.
In both their defeats it has been their batting unit that has let them down. The top-order consisting the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez has not contributed much and Eoin Morgan, who started the season with an unbeaten 80, has lost steam just like his team.
On the other hand, all-rounder Shahid Afridi seems to have found form and his contribution along with Shakib Al Hasan with the ball as well will be crucial to their chances in the remaining matches now.
While Peshawar look a better team on paper, Brendon McCullum's team have picked up after an initial stutter with all-round contributions. New Zealand all-rounder Grant Elliott along with Umar Akmal has consistently performed for the team. Having won their previous game agianst the defending champions, Lahore will start the match as favourites.
TV Schedule
Pakistan: Ten Sports, PTV, Geo Super
Sri Lanka: Ten Sports, CSN
UK: Prime TV
West Indies: Flow TV
Bangladesh: Gazi TV
UAE: OSN Sports
Team News
Peshawar
Possible XI: Iqbal, K Akmal (wk), Hafeez, Morgan, Maqsood, Shakib, Sammy (c), Afridi, Riaz, Ali, Junaid
Lahore
Possible XI: Delport, McCullum (c), Zaman, U Akmal, Rizwan (wk), Irfan, Elliott, Narine, Tanvir, Yamin, Shah
