Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars PSL Tips: United need big boy batters to fire

• Lahore slight outsiders at home

• Loser is knocked out

• Gaddafi Stadium pitch may be used

• Van der Dussen the bet at 13/53.60

• Quetta await in final

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Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars
Friday 23 May, 15.30
TV: live on Sky Sports

Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars PSLT20 tips

Islamabad United's batting failed under the pressure of the chase in the qualifier, going down by 30 runs against Quetta. United conceded 209 and they were under the pump early on.

Alex Hales is feast or famine these days and his two-ball duck seemed to cause some consternation. Sahib Farhan should have been run out soon after. Farhan and Rassie van der Dussen looked to be getting them on track before Rassie's panicked swipe off a straight one was a killer blow. 

Probable United XI: Farhan, Hales, van der Dussen, Salman, Shadab, Neesham, Imad, Dwarshuis, Naseem Shah, Ghori, Irshad

Lahore got up in the chase against Karachi with ease to book this knockout. Going after 190 they cruised home with eight balls to spare.

It took a big performance from Haris Rauf at the death to give them a relatively easy target. He took three for 35 and when he's in form he has the ability to put together performances game by game.

Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique then took the match away from Kings with 47 off 38 and 65 off 35 respectively. Bangladesh all--rounder Rishad Hossain is available for this game but they're most likely to stick with a winning XI. 

Probable Lahore XI: Fakhar, Naeem, Shafique, Kusal Perera, Rajapaksa, Asif, Shakib, Afridi, Rauf, Zaman, Mirza

Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars PSLT20 pitch report

Do we get a used surface for this one with two knockouts played at the same venue and still the final to come? Probably. It has looked a vastly superior batting surface in the play-offs to the league stage. There has been one first-innings under 100 (89) and four at 160 or fewer. First-dig scores of 209 and 190 in the play-offs have been more like the historic surfaces at Gaddafi Stadium.

An early par line suggests that this is going to be a tricky surface but we have to wait and see what the TV pitch report says. They have been giving information on what tracks have been used for previous games. 

Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars PSLT20 match prediction

United are marginal favourites at 1.9520/21 with Lahore 2.0521/20. This is pretty close to a choice affair and the market may, unwittingly, be right pre-toss.

We do think the flip is key here with seven from 11 won by the chaser. Markets very rarely move significantly on the toss and we would still expect value on the chaser immediately after. Any movement south is likely to be minimal. 

Both teams have a win each on the head-to-head. United smashed Qalandars by eight wickets in their first game of the season but defeat four games later started a spiral of four successive losses for them. United are very hard to predict considering churn and their nonsense of deciding to experiment halfway through the season. 

Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars PSLT20 player bets

United need more from Rassie van der Dussen, who came into this tournament with a two-year win rate of 46%. It could be the last chance for a winner after two blanks. He really should have copped last time out. But we have to keep faith. Rassie has an excellent record at this venue having previously played for Lahore, averaging 56 with a strike rate of 155 in seven games. Sportsbook offer 13/53.60. 

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