Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans: Fantasy Preview

Peshawar Zalmi will take on Multan Sultans in Match No. 5 of the Pakistan Super League 2021 at the National Stadium, Karachi on Tuesday (February 23). Peshawar lost to Lahore Qalandars by four wickets in their opening encounter, while Multan were undone by Islamabad United in a closely-fought encounter. Multan have done well against Peshawar in the past and would be eager to get their first win of the season.

PSL HEAD-TO-HEAD

Overall: Matches – 6 | Peshawar – 2 Wins | Multan – 4 Wins

Last 5 Matches:  Peshawar – 2 Wins | Multan – 3 Wins

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.

NOTE: Stats updated until 21 February 2021

Ground details and team combination

Pacers have ruled the roost at the National Stadium, Karachi, with 32 out of the 40 wickets (other than run-outs) falling to them. Given that a total of 21 matches are going to be played at this venue, it will be just a matter of time before the spinners too get in on the action as well.

The team batting second have won the first three matches of the tournament. We have not seen the team batting first put up significantly high scores and that could be the case in this game as well. While the spinners have not done anything of much significance so far, it would be ideal if you still went ahead and picked one or two quality spinners, which both the sides have.

Captain Selection

Mohammad Rizwan slammed 71 off 53 against Islamabad and is currently in the form of his life. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who was recently appointed captain of Multan in place of Shan Masood, managed scores of 104*, 51 and 42 in the T20I series against South Africa. Since 2019, the right-hander has scored 1087 runs at 37.48 in 38 T20 innings and is currently one of Pakistan's best T20 batsmen. On top of that, Rizwan could also get you some crucial points with his wicketkeeping.

X-Factors

Carlos Brathwaite is a utility player. The all-rounder from West Indies is inconsistent with the bat but has been in pretty good form with the ball in hand. The right-arm seamer picked up 16 wickets at a strike rate of 18 in the last edition of the Big Bash League and was also amongst wickets against Islamabad. Brathwaite bowls most of his overs in the second half of the innings, which makes him a wicket-taking option. Brathwaite, who scored 22* in the first game, could also prove to be handy with the bat in the last few overs.

In the recently-held T10 league, Ravi Bopara was very impressive, scoring 165 runs in just seven innings. Considering the nature of that format, those were very good returns. His performances in PSL 2020 were underwhelming, but has started this season with a fine half-century. The in-form batsman scored a steady fifty against Lahore and could turn out to be a good pick for your fantasy team.

Shoaib Malik is a safe pick when it comes to fantasy cricket. The experienced right-hander, who scored 26 against Lahore, has managed 1056 runs at an average of 35.2 in 37 T20 innings since the start of 2020. Malik is someone who constantly scores at least 25-30 runs in every innings. He has scores of more than 25 in 20 of his last 37 innings. If needed, Malik is also a handy offspinner.