The arch-rivals have not met each other so far in the tournament and the wait is finally over now. The Qalandars will take on the highly-confident Kings at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore and we’re expecting a full house as both of these teams have produced some enthralling encounters in the previous editions of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). 

The Kings have picked momentum at the right time as they were clearly on top of their game in the previous two encounters. After back to back victories against Peshawar and Islamabad, the Imad Wasim led Karachi Kings will surely feel confident ahead of their clash against the Qalandars. 

The Lahore based franchise is currently at the bottom of the points table with just two victories to their name and both of them coming against the defending champions as they steam-rolled the Gladiators in a one-sided affair with an authoritative performance at the Gaddafi Stadium

As the playoffs are approaching rapidly, the Karachi Kings have also gained consistency in their performance. They have defeated the Peshawar Zalmi twice and Islamabad United once in their PSL 2020 journey so far. The main reason behind the success of Karachi Kings is their great team effort as Alex Hales and some of the other foreign players like Chris Jordan have played a major role in their victories so far. 

On the other hand, the Sohail Akhtar led franchise has already lost four games in the tournament so far and they’re struggling to find the right combination. In order to stay alive in the tournament, the Qalandars will have to produce an extraordinary performance against the Karachi Kings in the tonight’s clash. 

As far as the team combinations are concerned then Chris Lynn was absent from the Lahore’s playing XI in the previous game and he was replaced by Dane Vilas. Lynn had a high-fever according to the reports and we might see him back in action in the all-important game against Karachi. 

Mohammad Hafeez and Ben Dunk were involved in a match-winning partnership against Quetta and they will surely look to improve their game against the arch-rivals. The Lahore based franchise will rely on Shaheen Shah Afridi to provide them with the early breakthroughs and the wicket of Babar Azam is going to be the key for Qalandars. 

The Karachi Kings are expected to revert back to the same playing XI that played against Peshawar, which means McClenaghan is likely to miss out and Delport is going to come back in the XI. The two left-arm spinners Imad Wasim and Umer Khan are going to be the key for Karachi Kings as we saw a spin-friendly wicket at the Gaddafi Stadium in the contest between Quetta and Lahore. 

Karachi Kings Probable Playing XI:
Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim ©, Chris Jordan, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Umer Khan

Lahore Qalandars Probable Playing XI:
Chris Lynn, Fakhar Zaman/Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Samit Patel, Sohail Akhtar (c), Muhammad Faizan/Farzan Raja, Seekkuge Prasanna, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Irshad, Dilbar Hussain