Gladiators and Kings Look to Bounce Back After Disappointing Losses

Former champions Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators will go head to head in the fourth match of the PSL 2022 on Saturday, 29 January. The match, scheduled at Karachi’s National Stadium, will start at 7:30 pm PST.

Match Preview

Both Karachi and Quetta will be determined to overcome disappointing losses in their opening encounters and put in a much-improved display as they face off against each other in their second match of the campaign. Karachi got off to a sluggish start in PSL 2022 as they convincingly lost against Multan Sultans.

Babar’s troops will be looking to turn around their fortunes and give the home crowd something to cheer about. Kings will be boosted by the return of former captain Imad Wasim who has fully recovered from COVID-19 and is expected to start the match while experienced pacer, Mohammad Amir is also in his final stages of recovery and might get the go-ahead by the doctors to feature in the match.

Gladiators, on the other hand, were impressive in their first outing but were unable to defend a good total as they agonizingly lost to Peshawar Zalmi on Friday night. Exceptional performances by young players Will Smeed, Ahsan Ali, and Naseem Shah will give them confidence ahead of the crucial tie against the Kings. Quetta will be hoping that their experienced players, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, and James Faulkner can put in a much-improved display as compared to their previous performance.

Match Details

• Date Saturday, 29 January 2022
• Time 07:30 pm PKT
• Venue National Stadium Karachi
• Live Stream LINK

Possible Playing XIs:

Karachi Possible XI –Babar Azam (c), Sharjeel Khan, Joe Clarke (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Tom Lammonby, Lewis Gregory, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Imran Jr., Talha Ahsan, Umaid Asif, Mohammad Ilyas

Check out Karachi’s full squad here

Quetta Possible XI –Sarfaraz Ahmed (c)(wk), Will Smeed, Ahsan Ali, Ben Duckett, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain, Luke Wood, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ashir Qureshi

Check out Quetta’s full squad here

Head to Head

Overall, the two sides have come face to face 12 times in the tournament. Gladiators have an upper hand as they have won 7 while Kings have won 5. They last faced each other on 19 June 2021 in Abu Dhabi; Karachi won it by 14 runs.

X-Factor

Karachi’s captain, Babar Azam will be determined to pile on the runs after a disappointing performance in his previous outing. Count Babar out on your own peril as he has shown time and time again that he bounces back once his back is against the wall. Babar will be crucial for Karachi as he provides them composure at the top of the order.

Quetta’s young pace sensation, Naseem Shah was one of the shining lights in an otherwise poor bowling display. Naseem’s pace will be the key for Gladiators as they look to restrict their opponents to a much lower total.

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