Islamabad United versus bogey team Quetta Gladiators

Islamabad United will take on Quetta Gladiators tonight in what will be the first reverse fixture of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020.

The match, the first-ever PSL game to be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, is scheduled to begin at 7pm local.

Whoever wins will usurp current table-toppers Multan Sultans and become the new league leaders.

As things stand, both Islamabad and Quetta have nearly identical records, playing three and winning two for a total of four points each. Islamabad sit second due to their slightly superior net run-rate.

Head to head

Islamabad, with their twin titles, are the most successful side in PSL history but they have a losing record against Quetta.

In their 10 clashes so far, Islamabad have won just four and lost six, giving them a rather poor 40% win ratio against the reigning champions.

However, Islamabad do have a history of winning when it matters the most — a fact signified by their win over Quetta in the inaugural PSL final in 2016. 

In the league stages though, Quetta dominate Islamabad like nobody's business. 

The two teams last met on the opening night of PSL 2020 exactly a week ago. Islamabad were on their way to winning the match until Azam Khan happened.

Keys to victory

If Islamabad are to win, they will have to:

- calm their league stage jitters against Quetta

- be careful against Quetta's pace trio of Mohammad Hasnain, Ben Cutting and Sohail Khan — who took nine wickets between themselves in their last meeting

If Quetta are to win, they will have to:

- have Shane Watson (50 runs in 3 innings) and Ahmed Shehzad (30 runs in 3 innings) contribute more instead of asking the young Azam to bail them out again and again

- get Luke Ronchi out early as the Kiwi, even at 38, is capable of being devastating

Prediction

When these two meet in league stages, Quetta wins 66.6% of the times. That's a big number to go against. Quetta's front three are also due a massive, match-winning knock. 

Islamabad will have the home advantage on paper but what really is a home advantage in franchise cricket?

We backed the visitors to beat the home side yesterday and were proven wrong. We remain undeterred though. Quetta edges this.

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