PSL 2016

Lahore aim to open account against high-flying Quetta

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Lahore Qualandar will desperately need their foreign imports - Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Ajantha Mendis - to step up in the key clash. © Cricbuzz

High-flying Quetta Gladiators will look to extend their unbeaten start to the Pakistan Super League when they take on a beleaguered Lahore Qualandar side, languishing at the other end of the table, at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday (February 8).

The Gladiators, often classified as wild horses in the run-up to the start of the tournament, have now emerged as hot favourites. Their win over Peshawar Zalmi, the other strong contender, on Sunday firmly puts them in pole position to a guaranteed berth in the playoffs. Everything has fallen into place for Sarfraz Ahmed's men at the start of the tournament. The bowling led by the highly impressive youngster Mohammad Nawaz has kept opposition batsmen in check and the openers Ahmed Shehzad and Luke Wright have sparkled.

The middle order did wobble against Peshawar in its first outing in the middle but with the likes of Elton Chigumbura batting at No. 8, has enough experience to weather any storm. Sustaining momentum will be key to their progress in this tournament and Viv Richards and the coaching staff would warn them to guard against complacency.

On the other side, Lahore have easily been the most disappointing team in the competition so far. Clearly, on paper, they shouldn't be as bad as their performances reflect. The team management has received considerable stick for setting up a team with an underwhelming bowling attack. But in fairness, the team did invest in Mustafizur Rahman and Yasir Shah, who, for reasons unforeseen, couldn't join the contingent. Having said that though, their bowling performance in the nine-wicket defeat to Peshawar on Saturday night failed to inspire any confidence.

The team will desperately need their foreign imports - Dwayne Bravo and Ajantha Mendis - to step up in the key clash. Bravo, in particular, has failed to turn in the performances that made him such an indispensable member of the Chennai Super Kings in the the Indian Premier League.

If anything, the batting is a bigger worry for Azhar Ali. Chris Gayle hasn't been around to see the first over of the second over yet while Cameron Delport has struggled to adapt to the slowness of the wicket. The onus will be on Umar Akmal and captain Ali to bat through the innings to compensate for the lack of bite in the bowling. Ali promised there would a be possibility of a batting-order shuffle. Sure they've had a slow start but if they can clip Quetta's wings on Monday, they would receive a huge boost heading into the crucial Sharjah leg of the tournament.

Quotes:

Mohammad Nawab (Quetta Gladiator): "Viv Richards has a simple message for us before we step out to play - 'Let's kill them before they kill us'"

Azhar Ali (Lahore Qualandar): "Obviously we've under-performed so far. We have fallen short of our expectations in the kind of cricket we want to play."

Squads:

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfraz Ahmed, Aizaz Cheema, Anwar Ali, Bilal Asif, Elton Chigumbura, Mohammad Nabi, Kevin Pietersen, Saad Nasim, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nawaz, Rameez Raja, Luke Wright, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Bismillah Khan

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

© Cricbuzz

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