Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars Prediction

LHQ Team News

Lahore Qalanders made the most eye-catching signing in this year’s draft as AB de Villiers signed to bolster the batting line-up. Fakhar Zaman and Yasir Shah were the most notable players retained by the Qalanders, while Mohammad Hafeez, Carlos Brathwaite, Corey Anderson and Sandeep Lamichhane were also brought in. Lamichhane is currently with the Melbourne Stars at the end of their Big Bash League campaign, however.

LHQ Key Players

AB de Villiers arrives having been in brilliant batting form during his short stint in the Bangladesh Premier League with Rangpur Riders. De Villiers – who signed off from the Mzansi Super League with an unbeaten 93 against Durban Heat, scored 34, 41, 1, 100*, 37 and 34* in his six BPL innings.He joins a batting line-up that also boasts Fakhar Zaman, who showed good form in the ODI series against South Africa and will want to transfer that to the T20 game now. Mohammad Hafeez also hit a half-century in the ODI series and boasts 30 half-centuries and two hundreds in his T20 career too.

Brendan Taylor could be an under-rated signing, meanwhile. He enjoyed good form in the BPL too as he scored 28, 32, 48, 34, 50 and 18 in his six innings for Khulna Titans – helping inspire them to significant improvements in their batting form.

With the ball, teenager Shaheen Afridi took a wicket in each of his two T20i appearances against South Africa and is one of Pakistan’s brightest bowling talents. Hardus Viljoen has enjoyed success in the T10 League recently, meanwhile – claiming 18 wickets in 18 overs.

LHQ Team Form

Lahore Qalanders finished bottom of the pile in last year’s Pakistan Super League after losing their first six matches. That included a super-over defeat to Islamabad United in Sharjah after a thrilling low-scoring tie.

They did win three in a row thereafter but lost their final game too, giving them a record of three wins and seven defeats in last season’s tournament.