DUBAI: Cricket action will return to Dubai tonight as top-ranked Quetta Gladiators face off against bottom-placed Karachi Kings in the 15th match of the Pakistan Super League 2017.
The Gladiators have lost only one match in the tournament and are riding high on the explosive form of batsman Kevin Pietersen, who ended his string of failures in the earlier matches with a blistering 88 off 42 balls against Lahore Qalandars, as the Gladiators chased down 200 to reclaim their top spot.
The Kings, who started off dismally in the tournament with three consecutive defeats, returned to contention for the playoffs with back-to-back wins in their last two matches. Kumar Sangakkara’s side, however, was pushed to the bottom of the table again after Lahore Qalandars’ one-wicket win against Islamabad United on Monday.
Quetta Gladiators defeated Karachi Kings by 7 wickets in the 5th match of PSL 2017 on Feb 11. That game was dominated by South African batsman Rilee Rossouw, whose knock of 76 runs off 53 balls, along with captain Sarfraz Ahmed’s 56 off 42, helped the Gladiators chase down 159 with 5 balls remaining.
Squads
Quetta Gladiators: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Ahmad Shehzad, Luke Wright, Umar Gul, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Tymal Mills, Zulfiqar Babar, Saad Nasim, Umar Amin, Mohammad Nawaz, Mir Hamza, Hassan Khan, Noor Wali, Bismillah Khan, Thisara Perera, Rilee Rossouw, Nathan McCullum, Mahmudullah
Karachi Kings: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Shoaib Malik, Chris Gayle, Babar Azam, Ravi Bopara, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Saifullah Bangash, Shahzaib Hasan, Sohail Khan, Kieron Pollard, Ryan Mclaren, Khurram Manzoor, Kashif Bhatti, Abrar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Mahela Jayawardene, Rahat Ali, Hasan Mohsin, Amad Alam