Peshawar Zalmi, who defeated Islamabad United in their first match, is set to face Lahore Qalandars in Dubai International Stadium on Saturday. This match has all the ingredients of a classic encounter with Peshawar eager to win back-to-back matches, while Lahore, who lost their first match against Karachi Kings, keen to get their first points on the table.
Peshawar came up with an all-round performance against Islamabad, which helped them win the match and a similar show can be expected from Shahid Afridi's side on Saturday. Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal, who scored 51 runs, will be eager to provide a good start at the top of the order so that the middle order comprising Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Darren Sammy can capitalise on it.
Apart from their batsmen, they have some world class bowlers, who can destroy opponents as was witnessed against Islamabad where Shaun Tait and Wahab Riaz played a huge role, taking two and three wickets respectively, to help their team turn victorious.
With such dangerous bowlers in action, Lahore batsmen need to be on top of their game if they are to register their first victory in the PSL. Lahore are not short of batsmen in their ranks, but are heavily dependent on the dangerous left-hander, Chris Gayle, who is known for his big hitting skills. If he gets his act going, no bowler in world cricket can stop him from scoring runs at a brisk rate.
So, an entertaining contest between Gayle and the Peshawar bowlers is on the cards.
Apart from Gayle, other batsmen such as Azhar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, and Dwayne Bravo also need to score runs for Lahore.
Lahore, who do not have a strong bowling line up, will depend on their batsmen to help them emerge triumphant. Their bowlers include Bravo, Zia-ul-Haq and Zafar Gohar.
With popular Pakistan cricketer Afridi leading Peshawar, his team is expected to be well supported by the Dubai crowd, who will want a high-scoring game in the PSL with a number of fours and sixes all around the park.
Teams: Peshawar Zalmi: Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Darren Sammy, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Chris Jordan, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Khan, James Allenby, Shaun Tait, Aamer Yamin, Dawid Malan, Imran Khan (jnr), Shahid Yousuf, Abdur Rehman, Musadiq Ahmed Ali, HasanAli, Mohammad Asghar, Brad Hodge, Israrullah, Taj Wali.
Lahore Qalandar: Chris Gayle, Yasir Shah, Sohaib Maqsood, Mustafizur Rahman, Kevon Cooper, Cameron Delport, Zafar Gohar, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan Zia ul Haq, Naved Yasin, Adnan Rasool Hammad Azam, , Dwayne Bravo, Umar Akmal, Zohaib Khan, Ehsan Adil, Abdul Razzaq, Mukhtar Ahmed, Imran Butt.
Where to watch live
Game 5 of the Pakistan Super League -- Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars -- is scheduled for 3pm local time (4:30 pm IST, 4 pm PKT, 11am GMT) start. Unfortunately there is no live TV coverage in India.
Viewers in Pakistan can watch the -- Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars live on PTV Sports, Ten Sports and Geo Super with the live streaming online option on PTV Sports Live.
OSN will broadcast the Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars live in UAE,with the match can be live streamed on OSN Play.
UK viewers can watch the Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars on Prime TV with live streaming on Prime TV Online.
Viewers from around the world can also live stream the match on Cricketgateway.
