Kings take on Zalmi, Qalandars face Sultans on second day of PSL 2020

The much awaited fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League was launched on Thursday with a dazzling, colourful opening ceremony. The inaugural match was played between defending champions Quetta Gladiators and two-time winners Islamabad United, which the Gladiators won by three wickets at the National Stadium Karachi.

Today, on the second day of the tournament, there will be two matches: first between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi at 3-00 pm at the same venue and later, the second between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans at 7-00 pm at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

In the first match, all rounder Imad Wasim will lead the Kings, the hosts, while the Zalmi will be captained by the West Indies' veteran cricketer Darren Sammy, reported The News.

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Peshawar Zalmi are one-time winners of the PSL, as they won the coveted PSL trophy in the second edition - in 2017, whereas they have been the runners-up for the last two consecutive years - in 2018 and 2019.

On the other side, Karachi Kings have not been able to win the tournament nor have they ever been the runners-up. They achieved the fourth position in the first and the fourth editions - in 2016 and 2019 and were placed third in two successive editions - 2017 and 2018.

In today's match, both teams are balanced, but the Zalmi are looking a better side on the basis of their past performance, with one trophy and two second spots in the tournament.

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They have a galaxy of national and international stars like Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Wahab Riaz and Sammy, along with Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Liam Dawson, Lewis Gregory, Imam-ul-Haq, Liam Livingstone, Umar Amin and Tom Banton.

Karachi Kings, on other hand, are not looking the better side on paper as they do not have big names in their squad, but they have a consistent batsman, Babar Azam, who can steer the Kings to win the match.

Besides Babar, they have other good players like Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton and Imad. Sharjeel Khan is also appearing in this edition after a long absence due to ban.

Originally published in The News