Quetta Gladiators vs Karachi Kings, Match 29, PSL 2021: Fantasy Preview

Quetta Gladiators will look to salvage pride and dent Karachi Kings’ hopes of making it to the PSL 2021 play-offs when they face off in match 29 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Quetta which at the bottom of the table with four points from nine matches was out of the play-offs race after a humiliating 110-run loss against Multan Sultans on Wednesday, while Karachi, which is one place above Quetta with eight points from nine matches, will hope to register a big win to move into the top-four by virtue of net run-rate.

PSL HEAD-TO-HEAD

Overall: 11 | Karachi -  4 | Quetta - 7

Last five matches: Karachi - 3 | Quetta – 2

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 have come up with one team.

GROUND DETAILS AND TEAM COMBINATION

The Sheikh Zayed Stadium has so far hosted 13 encounters this season and the batsmen here have scored runs at an average of 25.8 and have lost a wicket every 18.1 balls. After offering tricky slow pitches at the beginning of the second leg, batsmen have finally been able to free their arms as seen on Thursday and Friday were teams have scored above 160 in five of the six innings.

Pacers have claimed 67.7 percent of the wickets so far in the second leg and have been slightly more expensive with an average economy of 8.4 at an average strike rate of 20.5 balls per dismissal. Spinners, on the other hand, have claimed 40 off 124 wickets so far with a better economy of 8.3 and a far better strike rate of 20.1 balls per dismissal. It is better to have one or two leg-spinners in the side as they claimed 24 wickets and have the best strike rate of 16.

Captain

Jake Weatherald has been the only shining light in a miserable campaign for Quetta with 123 runs from four matches which saw him promoted up the order. The left-hander has scored 48, 13, 43 in the opening role which is the best individual return for his side in the second leg. 

Our Criclytics Player Projector  predicts Weatherald will score 23-35 runs in this match.

X-FACTORS

Babar Azam has been raking up runs across all formats and competitions alike this year. With 220 runs from four matches, which include three fifties, Babar is now the second-highest run-getter in the second leg of the PSL. Even when he is not at his best, he has managed to put runs on the board, as it was evident in his 44-ball 54 in the win against Lahore Qalandars.

Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Babar will score 31-47 runs in this match.

Noor Ahmad has been a revelation for Karachi this season with his unorthodox action and flight bamboozling experienced batsmen like Mohammed Hafeez. The 16-year old is a top pick to have in the side as he can offer crucial breakthroughs during the middle overs.

Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Ahmed will pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.

Usman Shinwari is someone who has the pace, bounce, and variations to trouble batsmen with the new ball as well as death bowling. The left-armer was the chief architect of Quetta’s only win in the second leg against Lahore Qalandars and is their best bowler so far with six wickets from four matches.

Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Shinwari will pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.