Lahore and Islamabad will meet in Pak T20 League 2021 for the second time this week. Lahore lost just one game out of six and claimed the top spot in the points table. When they last met each other, Lahore had the final laugh.
Match Timings: June 13, 6:30 PM IST
Team Preview
It will be the second time in just 5 days when we will witness another clash between Lahore and Islamabad. Both sides are boosted after comprehensive wins in the previous encounters. When they started Abu Dhabi leg, both sides played a thriller which finished in the last over. Lahore made a solid start to Abu Dhabi's leg with two back-to-back victories and they have lost just one game out of six. One more win will assure their qualification in playoffs as the fifth-placed side can reach a maximum of 12 points and if Lahore wins today, they will retain their top spot with 12 points.
Lahore has a sweet tale of success and Rashid Khan is the hero for the second part of this story. He has been a standout performer with bat and ball. In the last game, Lahore did it wonder when they lost 4 wickets early but Ben Dunk and Tim David revived them to reach 170. Lahore’s bowling lineup was led by Rashid who picked his maiden fifer in league cricket. It set the tone for Lahore and in the end, they bagged their 5th win of the season by 10 runs. Lahore’s main target will now finish in the top two to secure the chance in the qualifier game.
Meanwhile, Islamabad made a perfect comeback after slipping against Lahore in the final over. They hammered Quetta by 10 wickets in the previous encounter to claim two points and also boosted the NRR. They would also look for two more points to boost their chances for the playoffs.
Islamabad bowled out Quetta on just 133 in a Friday night encounter and later, Colin Munro and Usman Khawaja made a mockery of this chase by finishing it in just 10 overs. It was the fastest run chase in the history of the Pak T20 League when the opposition scored more than 100. Colin Munro justified his role by smashing 90 off just 36 balls and he could have scored the fastest hundred but Islamabad reached the target in the 10th over.
Despite losing the opening game in Abu Dhabi, Islamabad had an advantage over Lahore in Pak T20 League. They have won eight games against Lahore out of 11 and won five times in the previous six encounters. It will be the cracking game of T20 cricket as both teams have a strong pool of overseas players and both are going through good form. Hasan Ali has also been ruled out for the remainder of the season due to personal reasons so Islamabad will include another Pakistani pacer.
Pitch Report
Abu Dhabi’s surface is slightly a spin surface but in the first game of the day, we can expect a good amount of runs. Spin will surely take control of the game and Rashid Khan will be a big threat once again. The Batting-first side will have an advantage and 160 plus total would be a competitive one.
Possible XI
Lahore
Fakhar Zaman (c), Sohail Akhtar, Muhammad Faizan, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Tim David, Rashid Khan, James Faulkner, Ahmed Daniyal, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Islamabad
Colin Munro, Usman Khawaja, Hussain Talat, Rohail Nazir (wk), Shadab Khan (c), Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Musa, Akif Javed, Mohammad Wasim Jr
Key Players
Islamabad
Colin Munro
A hard-hitting player in powerplay scored 90 off 36 in last game
Shadab Khan
Can bat in middle-order and would also be handy with his spin
Lahore
Mohammed Hafeez
A class player according to the spin-surface may score big this time
Rashid Khan
6 wickets so far in Abu Dhabi after two games, a threat on a spin surface
