PSL 2018, Match 4: Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United – Match Predictions

It’s time for a head to head between the champions of the first and the second season of Pakistan Super League (PSL) as the Peshawar Zalmi take on the Islamabad United in Match 4 of the third edition of the tournament on Saturday. Zalmi have already played a game this season and lost it, so they will want to make a comeback and get their points’ tally off and running, while the United will be keen for a winning start to their run.

With many top T20 players a part of the show, it should be a full house as it has already been for the first few games. Saturday is not quite a working day in UAE, but still, with the match starting in the second half of the day, people will be able to turn up and the atmosphere is likely to be cracking.

Probable nature of the pitch

There shouldn’t be too much pace in the wicket again. If they use the same surface they had used for the Zalmi and the Sultans game, it will be even slower and batting will be a tough job. While in a T20 game, you generally want to win the toss and bowl first for the simple reason that you will have a better idea of the tempo batting second as you will know the target, on wickets like Dubai and especially if they are used wickets, you might actually want to bat first as stroke-play will get tougher  with every passing over of the game.

Playing Combination

Peshawar Zalmi

The Zalmi might have ended on the wrong side of the result in the opening clash, but they wouldn’t want to be chopping and changing too much too soon. They will want to give some time to their first picks to settle into the team atmosphere and understand their roles properly. So the chances are pretty slim that they will make any changes in the XI they put out against the Sultans.

They may want to use Harris Sohail at no. 3 though as he is a  classy player and is better off batting in the top order as he can control the innings really well and can play the anchor’s role to perfection. Dwayne Smith who batted at 3 in the previous game can bat 5 as he has got the power game to make the influence towards the end of the innings with the captain Darren Sammy.

Predicted XI: Kamran Akmal (wk), Darren Sammy (C), Dwayne Smith, Mohammad Hafeez, Tamim Iqbal, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Chris Jordan, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Asghar, Ibtisam Sheikh

Islamabad United

The Islamabad United squad is a nice mixture of experience and intensity. They have got a couple of players who have retired from the international game, but still bring a lot of value to the T20 teams around the world with their experience and wiliness and to complement that, they have got exuberance of youth as well which is direly needed in the shortest format of the game.

Their four overseas picks to start with will be Chadwick Walton, Luke Ronchi, Sam Billings and Andre Russell. Walton will probably open the batting with Ronchi, while Billings will be slotted at no. 5, a position which he is pretty accustomed to having batted there for England many times.

A lot of eyes will be on Russell as he has been out of the scenes for a while with suspension and it will be interesting to see if he is able to hit his straps right away. He is going to be an extremely valuable player for the United both with bat and ball.

Predicted XI: Mohammad Sami, Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Luke Ronchi, Chadwick Walton, Andre Russell, Sam Billings, Zafar Gohar, Hussain Talat, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf

Here is what we at CricTracker predict for the game:

Probable Top Performers

Mohammad Hafeez (Peshawar Zalmi) | Andre Russel (Islamabad United)

Head to Head

Matches – 5 Peshawar Zalmi – 2 Islamabad United – 3 Tie – 0

Timing of the match: 05:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – D Sport

The prediction is for the Peshawar Zalmi to beat the Islamabad United in this match.