FANTASY
Follow UsNothing separates Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars on points after four games. Both teams have followed a similar trajectory winning three games and a loss in their second fixture. The winner of the game between these two sides will climb to the top of the points table.
SUGGESTED TEAMS
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different teams that could fetch crucial points.
GROUND DETAILS & TEAM COMBINATION
A total of 14 matches have been completed in PSL 2021 – all at the National Stadium in Karachi. The chasing streak this year ended in the last of those games. While spinners (8.4) might have a better economy rate than pacers (8.9) so far this season, it’s wickets that count most in fantasy cricket and, on that front, pacers stand out. The faster bowlers (19.6) have a much better strike rate when compared to spinners (30) and they have taken more than 75% of the wickets in PSL 2021 so far. That is why we’ve gone with a pace-heavy bowling line-up.
CAPTAIN SUGGESTION
With nine wickets in four games, Shaheen Shah Afridi has been the second-highest wicket-taker PSL 2021 as yet. Twice in four games, he has bowled a match-winning three wicket spell. The National Stadium has been a batting paradise but Shaheen seems to be the only bowler who can still dominate batsmen with his swing and accurate yorkers/bouncers.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Afridi could pick 1-2 wickets in this match.
X-FACTORS
T20 are a young man’s sport. Unless you are Mohammad Hafeez. He is one of the only seven batsmen to average in excess of 50 in T20 cricket since 2020 (minimum 20 innings). Be it batting first or batting second, be it facing pace or spin, be it middle or the slog overs, Hafeez has been stupendous in all aspects of T20 batting. Among players with more than two innings in this year’s PSL no one averages more than Hafeez’s 90.5. He is, without a doubt, a must pick for your XI and should be your captain or vice-captain.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Hafeez could score 11-28 runs in this match.
Alex Hales has been in incredible form and it is hard to look past him as a member of your fantasy team. After ending the 2020/21 Big Bash League season as the top run-scorer, Hales has made 139 runs in four innings in PSL 2021 so far. In each of those knocks, he has got starts but hasn’t managed a big score yet. But in the form that he is in, a big innings might be around the corner.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Hales could score 17-40 runs in this match.
Hasan Ali has made a decent start to PSL 2021, having picked up six wickets in four matches so far. In both his last games, he has taken a two wicket haul and proved tough to attack for the batsmen. With fast bowlers having done well in the tournament until now, Ali is a good pacer to consider.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Ali could take 0-1 wickets in this match.