Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars: PSL 2019, Match 27, Preview

The fourth edition of the Pakistan Super League has been shifted to Pakistan after its 26 matches were played in the United Arab Emirates. Three of the remaining matches in Pakistan which were earlier to be held in Lahore have been shifted to Karachi along with other five matches already scheduled to be played here. The Karachi-leg commences on Saturday with a contest between defending champions Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars as both teams are aiming to strengthen their chances of securing play-off spots.Islamabad are currently placed third on the table with eight points from nine games, while Lahore are having fifth spot with six points from eight matches. If the United win they will move to the next round but it will be difficult for the Qalandars to progress to the next stage as they will have to win their last match against Multan Sultans (Monday, March 11) with a massive margin that can improve their net run-rate.Fast bowler Mohammad Sami is leading Islamabad United and opener Fakhar Zaman is captaining Lahore Qalandars in this match to be played at 7-00 pm at the National Stadium, Karachi on Saturday. Islamabad United have happy memories of the National Stadium where they won their second PSL title last year, defeating Peshawar Zalmi.The highest total by Lahore Qalandars is 204/4, a record score by any team in PSL4, (vs Multan Sultans, at Sharjah, Feb 22) while 177/5 is the highest by Islamabad United (vs Lahore Qalandars at Dubai on Feb 14).The most runs scored for the United are 297 (ave 37.12) in nine matches, by Luke Ronchi, with three fifties while the most for the Qalandars are 218 (ave 54.50) in seven matches, by AB de Villiers with one half-century.The highest wicket-taker for the United is medium-pacer Faheem Ashraf, who has claimed 13 wickets (ave 18.07) with one four-wicket haul while the highest wicket-taker for the Qalandrs is medium-fast bowler Haris Rauf, who has taken eleven wickets at an average of 18.00 with one four-wicket haul. SquadsIslamabad United: Mohammad Sami (captain), Sahibzada Farhan, Luke Ronchi, Cameron Delport, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Asif Ali, Waqas Maqsood, Rizwan Hussain, Samit Patel, Philip Salt, Amad Butt, Shadab Khan, Ian Bell, Wayne Parnell, Rumman Raees, Muhammad Musa.Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman (captain), Salman Butt, Sohail Akhtar, Agha Salman, Corey Anderson, Brandan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, Anton Devcich, Gauhar Ali, Hardus Viljoen, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Rahat Ali, Hassan Khan, David Wiese, Sandeep Lamichhane.

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