Who will win Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi PSL 1st match?
The opening match of the Pakistan Super League 2017 will see defending champions Islamabad United take on Peshawar Zalmi on February 9. Dubai International Cricket Stadium will be the setting for this fixture and live action is scheduled to start at 8 PM local time.
Islamabad vs Peshawar: Where to watch and live streaming
TV channels: PTV Sports, Ten Sports, Geo Super
Live streaming: Bet365, Ten Sports
Toss
The side that has fielded first has won three of the last four T20 matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. So whichever team wins the toss on Thursday will probably look to bowl first. Islamabad United batted second in six matches last season and they emerged victors in five of them, making them a very good bet for this match if they bat second.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and prediction for Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi PSL 1st match...
Islamabad United Team News & Playing 11
Team News
England fast bowler Steven Finn has replaced West Indian allrounder Andre Russell in the squad who has been banned from cricket for one year by an anti-doping panel. Ben Duckett and Dwayne Smith have been included in the team for this year's PSL.
Key Players
Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif will be the key members in Islamabad United's batting lineup. Sharjeel scored the most runs and played a big role in winning the inaugural edition for his team last year. Mohammad Sami was the leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets and we predict the seamer to be their best bowler in this match. Allrounder Shane Watson is another player who can make good contributions with both the bat and the ball.
Recent Form
Islamabad United, after a shaky start last season with just two wins from their first six matches, made a strong comeback to finish third in the standings at the end of the league round. They have won their last five matches in a row including the final in which they beat Quetta Gladiators quite comfortably.
Islamabad United Playing 11
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Sharjeel Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Khalid Latif, Shane Watson, Dwayne Smith, Steven Finn, Brad Haddin (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Sami, Samuel Badree.
Peshawar Zalmi Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Peshawar Zalmi will miss the services of two Bangladeshi players, batsman Tamim Iqbal and allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, in this match who will be on national duty to play a one-off test match against India. Darren Sammy will be leading the side in place of Shahid Afridi.
Key Players
Their batting will depend mostly on how well Mohammad Hafeez and Eoin Morgan perform. Both are attacking batsmen and have a good record in T20 cricket. Morgan had a good tour of India and we predict him to top-score for Peshawar Zalmi in this match. Wahab Riaz is one bowler in their side who Islamabad United will be wary of. The seamer took 15 wickets last year to finish as the second-best bowler of the season.
Recent Form
Peshawar Zalmi made a fantastic start to their campaign last year, winning four of their first five matches. With six wins from eight league games, they finished as the first ranked team on the points table ahead of Quetta Gladiators on account of better net run-rate. However, they lost both the qualifiers after that which resulted in their exit from the competition.
Peshawar Zalmi Playing 11
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Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Darren Sammy (c), Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Asghar, Eoin Morgan, Chris Jordan, Marlon Samuels, Iftikhar Ahmed.
Team form in last five matches (most recent first)
Islamabad United: W W W W W
Peshawar Zalmi: L L W W L
Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi Head to Head
Islamabad United faced Peshawar Zalmi three times in the previous season of the Pakistan Super League with the latter emerging victorious on two occasions. They played two matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and both won one match each. Their most recent face-off came at this ground with Islamabad winning by a big margin of 50 runs.
Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi Match Betting Odds
Islamabad United were the most successful team in the inaugural edition, winning 7 out of the 11 matches. They got the better of Peshawar Zalmi in the third qualifier at Dubai and will start off as favorites to win the opening match of the second season at 1.75 with betfair and 1.80 with bet365. However, in the two match-ups before this, it was Peshawar who ended up on the winning side. So they hold a slightly better record over Islamabad and hence offer good value at 2.16 with 1xbet and 2.00 with bet365.
Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi Match Prediction
The opening match of the PSL 2017 could go all the way down to the wire as both teams are strongly recruited and well balanced. Both played high quality cricket in the previous season and there is not much to choose between the two sides.
However, one team's loss is another's gain. Peshawar Zalmi will be without their two key players Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan which will certainly give Islamabad United an advantage. Although the United too will be without Andre Russell who was their star performer last year, it may not affect their performance that much. Islamabad United have done much better at Dubai with five wins from seven games and we predict them to extend their impressive record here by winning the season opener on Thursday.
Final Verdict: Back Islamabad United to beat Peshawar Zalmi in the 1st match of PSL 2017 at 1.75 with 1xbet and 1.80 with bet365.
Feb 09, 2017
21:30 IST / 16:00 GMT
Dubai Cricket Stadium - Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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