Karachi eye giant leap up from 5th to 2nd in clash with Peshawar
PSL 2020: Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi, match preview
Such is the cramped nature of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 points table right now that Karachi Kings, which until last night were battling to separate themselves from the winless Lahore Qalandars can now soar as high as second place when they take on Peshawar Zalmi tonight at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Just a win later, Karachi now have four points from as many matches. It's not just the points either. In the win over Islamabad United last night, three of their misfiring top four starred. The one who did not was Babar Azam and you don't have to worry too much about him. So things are looking up for them.
Peshawar have had a so-so PSL 2020 so far, playing four, winning two and seeing one of their matches washed out due to rain. They've looked a bit off-colour so far but they have it in them to make a mid-tournament push and move up the table.
Head to head
Karachi do not have a flattering record against anyone not named Lahore and Multan, but against Zalmi they are especially, woefully, incredibly pathetic.
In 11 matches so far, Karachi have won just thrice and Peshawar eight times. The port city side's 27.27 per cent win ratio is their lowest among any PSL side.
Karachi will, however, find some confidence in the fact that they beat Peshawar the last time they met, which was in their first match of this very tournament.
Babar's 78 and Imad's 50 that day had given tournament's highest score so far (201) but even then Peshawar had almost tracked it down.
If it wasn't for Umaid Asif's double-wicket 20th over, the 2017 champs would have gotten over the line.
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Prediction
In Babar, Sharjeel, Alex Hales and Cameron Delport, Karachi Kings arguably have the best top four in the league. They just showed last night that they have warmed up.
Peshawar, after all their brilliance year in and year out, look a bit slugglish this year. Their top order in particular is a bit hit and miss, except for Kamran Akmal maybe. If he goes, the rest of the batters look nervous.
We have a hunch that Karachi does a rare double over Peshawar this time.
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