Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings: Preview and Prediction

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Lahore Qalandars are placed firmly at the top of the table

In the last league stage match of the 2023 Pakistan Super League season, Lahore Qalandars will be up against Karachi Kings in Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.

For Lahore Qalandars, this match will be nothing more than a formal affair. They have confirmed their place in the next round with the help of 7 wins from 9 matches. With 14 points to their name, the Qalandars are placed at the top of the standings.

On the other hand, Karachi Kings will also be playing this match just for the sake of formality. Just 2 wins from 9 matches mean they are already out of the competition, as with 4 points, they are placed at the bottom of the table.

What Have They Done So Far?

After winning their first match against Multan Sultans, Lahore Qalandars suffered a big defeat at the hands of Karachi Kings in their second match. However, they made a superb comeback with five consecutive wins.

During this run, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s team defeated Quetta Gladiators twice; and won once each against Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United and Multan Sultans. They lost the next match against Peshawar but bounced back again with a win over Islamabad.

Karachi Kings had the worst start possible to their campaign, as they lost all of their first three matches against Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators. They defeated Lahore Qalandars in the fourth match to open their points tally but were then defeated by Multan Sultans.

After another win against the Sultans, Karachi experienced another poor run of form where they lost three matches on the trot yet again. This time around, the defeats were against Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United, and Quetta Gladiators.

Head to Head Record

The head-to-head records are inclined in favour of Karachi Kings. The 2020 champions have beaten Lahore Qalandars ten times, while the defending champions got the better of the Kings on six occasions.

The last meeting, which took place in February, saw Karachi win the game by 67 runs. Good batting performances from Wasim and James Vince helped them score 185 runs before an Akif Javed four-wicket haul bowled the Qalandars out for just 118 runs.

Key Players

Rashid Khan (Lahore Qalandars): The Qalandars have a lot of superb batters like Fakhar Zaman and Sam Billings, but their most valuable player this season has been Rashid Khan. The Afghan spinner is currently their leading wicket-taker, with 15 wickets in 7 matches.

Rashid’s best performance came in the last match against Islamabad United, where he picked up four wickets by conceding only 21 runs. Besides that, he also picked up a three-wicket haul in the game against Multan Sultans.

Imad Wasim (Karachi Kings): Karachi Kings might have failed to deliver as a team, but their captain, Imad Wasim’s numbers are pretty impressive. The all-rounder is leading the run-scorers list for the team with 359 runs, while he also has picked up 7 wickets.

In terms of his batting, Wasim’s best performance came against Islamabad United where he scored 92 not out. The skipper’s best bowling performance was against Quetta Gladiators, as he picked up 3 wickets by conceding just 16 runs in that fixture.

Predicted Playing XIs

Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Abdullah Shafique, Sam Billings (wk), Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Afridi ©, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.

Karachi Kings: Adam Rossington (wk), Matthew Wade, Tayyab Tahir, Shoaib Malik, Qasim Akram, Imad Wasim ©, James Fuller, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Muhammad Musa.

Prediction

Head-to-head records might be favoring Karachi Kings, but Lahore Qalandars has been the much better team this season. Hence, we have predicted the Qalandars to end their league phase campaign with a win.

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