Pakistan T20 League 2020’s playoffs started with a double-header on Saturday. Multan and Lahore will now face each other in the second eliminator to meet Karachi in the final.
Match Timings: Nov 15, 8:30 PM
Team Preview
Pakistan T20 League is in its final stage, and we got the one finalist after a cracking start to the playoffs. Multan and Karachi witnessed a super over, following a good comeback from Multan in flag-overs. In super-over, Mohammed Amir defended 13 runs to send Karachi into the final of the tournament. Multan’s top-order was off the colors, and Bopara rescued them to post 141. Despite losing the qualifier, Multan got one more chance, and now, they will go head to head with Lahore, who defeated Peshawar in the first eliminator by 5-wickets. Mohammed Hafeez played a fine knock of 74 off just 46 balls to chase down 171.
Both Lahore and Multan’s top-order suffered in their first playoff game, but their captain would expect them to fire. Fakhar and Tamim both are in good form, and in the last match, the captain also promoted himself up in the order. Hafeez is a sheet-anchor in the middle-order who can easily take the game away from the opposition. In bowling, Lahore has the finest pace-attack with Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, and Dilbar Hussain. Samit Patel and David Wiese both are quite handy in the middle-order. Lahore has a clean opportunity to step closer towards the maiden title.
Meanwhile, Multan needs to step out of their comfort zone. T20 Blast in-form Adam Lyth got his first game against Karachi but didn’t score much. The opening pair Zeeshan and Lyth, both have a big responsibility in the powerplay. Masood and Rossouw need to showcase their experience at the top. The middle-order is not so effective as other teams. The pandemic really hurt their goals. They can relax with their bowling unit as they have two experienced pacers like Tanvir and Irfan, who were exceptionally well in the first match. Imran Tahir in middle-overs and Mohammed Ilyas at death would be a good setup for Multan. They still need to fulfill their 5th bowling option, which is Shahid Afridi, but he is not so effective on Pindi's track. Multan have some weak points, and they can only go through if their bowlers deliver the same display on Sunday.
Pitch Report
National Stadium Karachi is a pure batting wicket, and in the evening match, it offers plenty of dew, which helps the chasing sides. Pacers can draw attention in the first half an hour. Chasing is always an ideal call due to the behavior of the pitch.
Possible XI
Multan
Adam Lyth, Zeeshan Ashraf (wk), Shan Masood (c), Rilee Rossouw, Ravi Bopara, Khushdil Shah, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Ilyas, Imran Tahir, Mohammad Irfan
Lahore
Fakhar Zaman, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Akhtar (c), Ben Dunk (wk), Samit Patel, David Wiese, Muhammad Faizan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Dilbar Hussain
Key Players
Multan
Khushdil Shah
National T20 Cup 2020 – Innings: 12, Runs: 362, Avg: 32.90
Mohammad Ilyas
National T20 Cup 2020 – M: 9, Wickets: 11, Avg: 26.45
Lahore
Fakhar Zaman
National T20 Cup 2020 – M: 12, Runs: 420, Avg: 35
Shaheen Afridi
National T20 Cup 2020 – M: 10, Wickets: 20, Avg: 14.90
