Pakistan T20 League 2023

Match 15: LAH vs PES

Preview

The Pakistan T20 League now shifts to Lahore with LAH and PES crossing swords for the first time this season. This match is going to be the first of the five matches that will be played at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. This is also the venue that will hold the playoffs and that is a very good advantage for the Lahore side. 

The ground is flat and the top order of the Lahore side is expected to bounce back and find their rhythm while playing on this pitch. Mirza Baig and Fakhar Zaman have been in good touch in the few past outings. 

This is a perfect opportunity to start with a bang. The same also stands with the Peshawar side whose openers are Babar Azam and Mohammad Haris. The two are well-recognised in the T20 cricket fraternity. Nevertheless, PES batters were unstable and failed to create an impact on a batting-friendly surface in Karachi. 

The home team have Shaheen Afridi to lead their bowling attack and surely that will pose to be a difficult challenge for the inconsistent Peshawar batting side. 

Shaheen Afridi would be happy to get his team bounce back from a big loss against Karachi. While chasing a target of 186 runs against the Karachi side they were bowled out for only 118 runs. 

In the very next match, Lahore managed to draft a total of 198 runs while batting against Quetta. Wiese and Afridi starred as they bagged 3 wickets each to secure a 63-run win.

The ground for this match in Lahore is well known for supporting the batters and offers almost no help to the bowlers. This is the time when bowlers like Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf need to bring their experience into the game. 

Rauf is likely to be the expensive one but it is expected that with this kind of experience, these two bowlers would definitely pull out strings to control the game. Fakhar Zaman would persist with his aggressive approach to batting in the top order. Yet the real strength of Lahore’s lineup is in the middle order. 

The services of Sikandar Raza, Hussain Talat, and David Wiese add depth to the batting side. The Lahore side has a very simplistic approach towards the batting, a few good knocks from Mirza Baig, Shai Hope or Fakhar Zaman along with some from the lower order would lead them to a huge total. 

Even on a batting surface like Karachi which is known for its successful run chases, the Peshawar side failed to impress. They somehow managed to win two out of three games but have more cons than pros. The only time their batting roared s in their inaugural match when they posted 199 runs while batting in the first place. 

In their second match at the same venue, PES lost 6 wickets while chasing a total of 155 runs. The likes of James Neesham and Rovman Powell in the middle order saved PES from an early collapse in the match. 

Big names like Babar Azam and Haris Rauf have the capability to lead Peshawar to an eye-catching total. Tom Kohler-Cadmore is a potential threat in the middle order.  He played a valuable knock in the inaugural match. Dasun Shanaka in the lower order has the potential to finish games and has worked in that role many times for his national team.

 James Neesham, Wahab Riaz and Usman Qadir are all prime bolwers. Neesham and Qadir can bring in early breakthroughs but as said this is a batting pitch providing almost no assistance to the bowlers there is a chance of them being expensive here in Lahore.

Match Details

Match: LAH vs PES, 15th Match, Pakistan T20 League, 2023

Date: Sunday, February 26, 2023

Time: 07:30 PM

Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

Pitch and Weather Report

The Gaddafi stadium in Lahore will host the match on Sunday, February 26, 2023. The same stadium will also be the venue for all the playoff matches including the final. The average first innings score is 175 runs and the par score is 190 runs. 

The stadium provides almost no help for the bowlers as this is a batting-friendly venue. The pacers will have a hard time finding a good pace and a perfect length. The powerplays will be tough for the bowlers on both sides. The weather is expected to be sunny with some hints of clouds. The temperature will be mostly 28 degrees celsius. 

LAH vs PES Squads

LAH: Liam Dawson, Abdullah Shafique, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Dilbar Hussain, Ahmed Daniyal, Jalat Khan, Shawaiz Irfan, Fakhar Zaman, Mirza Tahir Baig, Shai Hope (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.

PES: Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Shakib Al Hasan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Danish Aziz, Sherfane Rutherford, Haseebullah Khan, Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Haris (wk), Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell, James Neesham, Dasun Shanaka, Wahab Riaz, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Qadir, Arshad Iqbal.

LAH vs PES Probable Playing XIs

LAH: Mirza Baig, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Shai Hope (WK), Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan

PES: Mohammad Haris (WK), Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell, James Neesham, Dasun Shanaka, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Arshad Iqbal, Sufiyan Muqeem 

Match Prediction

Peshwar have a solid team with explosive batters in the middle order and also has Neesham in the shape of a star all-rounder. However, when we consider their current form, they are not in a good position to defeat any side. Lahore, on the other hand, will have a home advantage and their in-form batters will be ready to post another huge total if they get to bat first. Thus we think Lahore have a better chance to win this match.

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