Peshawar Zalmi v Quetta Gladiators PSL Tips: Leaky attacks let in chaser

Peshawar Zalmi v Quetta Gladiators
Tuesday 15 February 14.30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Zalmi buoyed

Zalmi got an important win last time out against the hapless Karachi Kings. A slip up against that crew could have been disastrous for their play-off hopes.

The result was never in doubt. Hazratullah Zazai and Moahmmad Haris, a bolter of a selection, got them off to a flyer. Haris struck at an extraordinary 181.

Before Haris got going it would have been fair to gripe that they were not making the most of Liam Livingstone, who should probably be opening. Instead he went in at No 3 and Haider Ali has been shunted down to the role of drifter in this order.

Saqib Mahmood was dropped to make room for Sherfane Rutherford, the Windies all-rounder.

Probable XI: Zazai, Haris, Livingstone, Shoaib, Haider, Cutting, Rutherford, Butt, Wahab, Umar, Irshad

Quetta checked

Quetta's surge was checked by Lahore. They had won their previous two but rain into Shaheen Shah Afridi in hot form.

Afridi knocked over Jason Roy and James Vince, architects of their decent form, in the first over. Quetta could manage only 141.

Iftikhar finally showed some hitting form to at least earn some respectability. Umar Akmal made a rare appearance at No 6. That sort of selection perhaps reinforces their lack of strength.

Shahid Afridi has announced he's played his last PSL game because of a chronic back injury.

Possible XI: Roy, Ahsan, Vince, Sarfaraz, Iftikhar, Umak, Hassan Khan, Tanvir, Noor Ahmad, Naseem, Mudassar.

Pitch report

Zalmi are conceding an average of 9.3 runs per over. Quetta are conceding on average 9.1. Really the trend for runs should continue. In six out of six first-innings so far at Lahore, more than 180 has been busted, although Islamabad required sensational hitting late on against kings to get there. Betting over 179.5 or 180.5 on the runs par line looks fair. Bet the market here]

Chasing game

This is one for the chaser. True, only two matches have so far been won by the chaser (before Islamabad-Kings on Monday) but there does appear to have been significant dew.

Zalmi are 2.021/1 with Quetta 1.9210/11. It's a tight affair. We suspect Zalmi are slightly superior but there's not much in it.

We expect a decent score up front so around 2.608/5 should be available on the team batting second. And that is the time to play.

This was what happened in the previous head-to-head in Karachi. Zalmi conceded 190 and then chased with two balls remaining.

Tops value

Ahsan Ali and Will Smeed did the blitzing for Quetta in that game. Smeed is surplus to requirements but Ahsan is not a terrible wager at 7/2 top bat. Roy has been boosted to 5/2.

Liam Livingstone has been boosted to 10/3. We were keen a game ago but Haris cementing the opener's slot means we'll leave it. Two picks on batting order is Shoaib Malik at 7s (he went in at No 4 last time) and Ben Cutting at 20s after batting at No 5. Bet the market here]