Hyderabad Kingsmen v Islamabad United PSL Tips: Kingsmen may falter at the last

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Friday 1 May, 15.00
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Hyderabad Kingsmen v Islamabad United PSL Tips

Hyderabad and Islamabad play-off for a place in the final against Peshawar Zalmi. It is a contest which pitches teams who have had contrasting seasons.

Hyderabad have come from nowhere to be in the shot of a debut final appearance in their first season. They have completely overhauled their campaign after losing the first four. They looked destined to be in a battle with Pindiz for bottom spot but unlike their rivals, they rolled up their sleeves and decided to fight. The reward has been a remarkable runs of six wins in seven.

Beating Sultans in the eliminator was testimony to building a squad which could perform with ball or bat and was a timely reminder to their opponents, who could play only one way.

They do come up against a team, however, which are well-balanced and vastly experienced. The contrast comes in the shape of United being solid and reliable. United finished second to Zalmi and there was clear water between them and Sultans, who finished third, in terms of the key metrics. United remain the second-meanest bowling unit in the tournament by a mere 0.04 RPO to Zalmi. That is in contrast to the 0.68 gap to HK. It is not insignificant.

It is this attribute which should swing the match in their favour on a Lahore surface which has been good for batting. With the ball liable to fly to the boundary, that extra something in the field really should make the difference for United.

United have also scored runs at a quicker rate than Hyderabad and have a superior runs per wicket average with the bat.

It is perhaps instructive when these sides met slap-bang in the middle of Hyderabad's glory run that United dished out a harsh lesson. They razed them for 80. We don't expect the same outcome because that was on a Karachi surface which was considerably more treacherous for batters. In short, there is no evidence that United should not be 1.804/5 jollies. On the contrary, there's a decent chunk to suggest they could be a little skinnier.

Indeed, it is hard not to be enamoured with the wise heads in the United side which should mean they remain bang in a game when the score suggests otherwise. Imad Wasim, top quality with bat and ball as an all-rounder, has hardly been needed with the bat while Faheem Ashraf adds depth in that regard. Throw in Shadab Khan and it doesn't seem quite fair that United have the three top all-rounders.

If there is a player price to look out for it is the 5/16.00 that Saim Ayub top score for Hyderabad. He has had a hugely disappointing campaign but at some stage his form will turn. he is far too good a player not to get among the runs again. We'd be betting long-term quality outing over short-term glitches. At first drop it is arguable, too, that he should be no bigger than 4s.

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