Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle is starting to find his feet in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Getty

Lahore Qalandars take on Islamabad United in the 20<sup>th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Dubai International Cricket stadium on 17 February, Wednesday.

Where to watch

The match will start at 3.30pm GMT. Live coverage of the game is available in the UK on Prime TV.

Overview

The final match of the league stage in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), sees two teams fighting for a play-off spot, with Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United battling it out at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The weather forecast is not too good, with showers expected.

Lahore Qalandars come into this game on the back of a two-wicket loss to the Quetta Gladiators on 16 February, a match that they should have won. At one point they had their opposition on the ropes, but their bowlers could not close out the game, a major problem that the Lahore outfit has faced. Their bowlers have just not been able to stem the flow of runs, which has ultimately cost them valuable points.

What must have delighted skipper Azhar Ali though, would be the performance of the batting. Their marquee player Chris Gayle finally came good, smashing a 34-ball 60 while Umar Akmal continued his impressive run. The captain too got into the runs, and will look to go one better against Islamabad United. A win for Lahore here and a loss for Karachi Kings against Peshawar Zalmi, will ensure that they qualify for the knock-out stages.

Islamabad United with six points are currently in third place in the table and it seemed like they had qualified for the play-off stage. However, if they lose to Lahore and Karachi Kings win against Peshawar Zalmi, they might just miss out on a play-off spot.

Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq would want to avoid such a scenario by ensuring that his team beat Lahore Qalandars on Wednesday, and would be depending on Andre Russell, Brad Haddin and S Badree to fire.

United, who will be missing Shane Watson, who flew home due to injury, might look the weakest side in the competition on paper, but if they win today they could spring a few surprises in the knock-out stages.

Prediction

Lahore Qalandars to win

Betting Odds (888sport)

  • Lahore Qalandars to win: 4/5
  • Islamabad United to win:1

Team News

Lahore Qalandars

Squad: Azhar Ali (c), Chris Gayle, Mukhtar Ahmed, Cameron Delport, Sohaib Maqsood, Naved Yasin, Imran Butt, Abdul Razzaq, Hammad Azam, Zohaib Khan, Dwayne Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Mohammad Rizwan, Umar Akmal, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar, Ajantha Mendis, Zia-ul-Haq, Adnan Rasool, Ehsan Adil

Islamabad United

Squad: Misbah-ul-haq (c), Amad Butt, Babar Azam, Samuel Badree, Sam Billings, Brad Haddin, Imran Khalid, Kamran Ghulam, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Sami, Rumman Raees, Andre Russell, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Amin, Shane Watson, Ashar Zaidi, Hussain Talat, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Siddiq.