National T20 Cup final: Enormously experienced KP take on in-form Southern Punjab

Pre-tournament favourites Khyber Pakthunkhwa will take on come-from-behind Southern Punjab in the final of the National T20 Cup tonight at 7:30pm in Rawanpindi.

Thanks to the star-studded fast bowling options and experienced batting line-up, KP were expected to do well and they have lived up to expectations, crushing Sindh in the semi-final on Saturday.

But Southern Punjab had won just one of their first seven matches of the tournament and their elimination was a foregone conclusion when they strung together a sequence of three victories against the tallest of odds to somehow make the final four, where they upset defending champions Northern.

Head to head

KP won both the times these two faced each other in the round-robin stages: the first one by six runs and the other by 73.

Both times KP batted first, put at least 200 runs on board and both the times Southern Punjab fell short - although their first defeat was by a slim margin.

Prediction

KP have the better team but Southern Punjab have the greater momentum and several players who have clicked at the right time, including Sohaib Maqsood and their openers Shan Masood and Zeeshan Ashraf.

It's tough to pick a winner here. However, if you read the KP line-up, it almost reads like a version of the Pakistan side with almost every single name having been a fixture of the national T20 unit at some point in time.

The difference in experience of both the sides is enormous and that might become a factor in the biggest match of the tournament.

We tip KP to get the job done.

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