Table toppers Qalandars and Sultans clash today

LAHORE: The two top teams of the current season of the HBL Pakistan Super League, Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans will cross swords in the 20th game here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday (today).

Shaheen Shah-led Qalandars and Mohammad Rizwan’s Multan Sultans are about to qualify for the playoffs.

Both have emerged as the major teams in the ongoing tournament. Lahore Qalandars are at the top of the points table whereas Multan Sultans are in the second spot.

Qalandars are coming into this game on the back of a comprehensive win, while Sultans would be hoping to get back to their winning ways after a defeat in the previous game.

Looking at the performance and fighting spirit shown by Qalandars in their previous games during the Lahore leg, they can be expected to register a comfortable win over Multan Sultans. Qalandars have been performing extremely well and their players across all departments are handling the pressure quite well.

The emergence of Sikandar Raza in the game against Quetta Gladiators has provided depth to Qalandars batting as he smashed 71 runs. Haris Rauf finally performed to his fullest potential when he registered his best performance with the ball, taking 3 wickets for just 22 runs. Rauf is expected to be the leading wicket taker for Qalandars. Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan star, has increased the wicket taking prowess of his team by leading the unit in the middle overs.

Lahore Qalandars have finally been able to justify their hype as they have won four consecutive games. Their latest win came against the Quetta Gladiators in Match 18 which the Qalandars won by 17 runs and they are currently on 10 points.

Sultans' Rizwan has been the tournament’s leading run scorer as he smashed 358 runs in 6 games, playing at an average of over 89 runs. The dependency on the captain was evident as the Sultans collapsed against the Kings in Match 14. That happened after Rizwan wasn’t able to get a solid start.

Rilee Rossouw is undoubtedly one of the most lethal batsmen in the world and has consistently shown that over the course of time for Multan.

On the other hand, Insanullah is the leading wicket taker of this edition as he has already taken 14 wickets in 6 games, bowling at an economy rate of just 5.54.

Given the nature of the pitch at Lahore, Rizwan may get off to an electrifying start.

The supremacy of Multan Sultans was unexpectedly halted by the depleted Karachi Kings as they lost by 65 runs after their batting order massively collapsed.

In their previous contest these two sides had a thrilling clash in which the Qalandars managed to carve out a 1-run victory. Moreover, they have beaten the Sultans in two consecutive games previously.

Lahore Qalandars: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Hussain Talat, Haris Rauf, Abdullah Shafique, Liam Dawson, Sikandar Raza, Ahmad Daniyal, Dilbar Hussain, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Mirza Tahir Baig, Shawaiz Irfan, Zaman Khan, Jalat Khan, Jordan Cox (wk), Ahsan Bhatti, Sam Billings, Shane Dadswell, Shai Hope

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), David Miller, Josh Little, Shan Masood, Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw, Akeal Hosain, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tim David, Usama Mir, Sameen Gul, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sarwar, Usman Khan, Arafat Minhas, Ihsanullah, Abbas Afridi, Kieron Pollard, Ammad Butt, Wayne Parnell, Izharul Haq Naveed.