Defending champions Karachi Kings kick-off the 2021 Pakistan Super League when they take on 2019 champions Quetta Gladiators.
The Kings have strengthened last season’s winning squad with the addition of key all-rounders Mohammad Nabi and Dan Christian.
Quetta Gladiators' title defence slumped last season but have added Chris Gayle and Tom Banton to the line-up this year.
KRK vs QTG Win Probability
The "Chance of Winning" Widget shows winning percentage depending upon live betting odds of teams participating in the match. The winning percentage is changed immediately when odds are updated.
The last two Pakistan Super League champions kick off the 2021 competition, as Karachi Kings meet Quetta Gladiators at Karachi’s National Stadium. The tournament kicks off on February 20 and the live action gets underway at 19:00 local time.
Karachi Kings have strengthened last season’s tournament-winning squad with the addition of Big Bash winning Dan Christian and another key all-rounder Mohammad Nabi. They still have Babar Azam leading the batting too and start the tournament as favourites.
Quetta Gladiators, meanwhile, have responded to last season’s disappointing title defence – in which they finished fifth and missed out on the play-offs – by adding Chris Gayle and Tom Banton at the top of the batting order.
KRK vs QTG Live Streaming
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The Karachi wicket tends to favour batting and both teams could be keen to get their batsmen stuck into it early on.
Pitch Report
The hard, dry Karachi wicket usually favours batting – especially in these short format matches.
Weather Report
Karachi will be hot, clear, dry and sunny all day.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators, PSL 2020-21.
Karachi Kings Team News & Playing 11
KRK Team News
Alex Hales is no longer part of the Karachi Kings’ line-up for PSL 2021, but Dan Christian and Mohammad Nabi could look to make an immediate all-round impact.
KRK Key Players
Babar Azam: The second-best T20i batsman in world cricket according to the ICC rankings, he ended last season’s tournament with scores of 65 and 63* to prove his huge importance.
Imad Wasim: The captain and all-rounder took ten wickets in his final nine appearances at the Big Bash League with Melbourne Renegades and will hope to retain that form.
Dan Christian: A hugely experienced T20 leader, fresh from yet another Big Bash League success in which he took 2-25 and scored 20 in the final.
KRK Team Form
Karachi Kings won last season’s Pakistan Super League. They finished second in the table, but then beat Multan Sultans in a Super Over in the Qualifier. Babar Azam hit 65 in that match and the top-scored with 63* in a successful chase of 135 to beat Lahore Qalandars by five wickets in the Final.
Karachi Kings Predicted Playing 11
Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Joe Clarke, Chadwick Walton (wk), Imad Wasim (c), Mohammad Nabi, Dan Christian, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal
KRK vs QTG Dream11 Prediction
Wicket Keeper
Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is the most expensive of the three wicket-keepers and the most experienced too. Chadwick Walton is slightly cheaper and, on his day, likely to be more prominent but he remains inconsistent and Sarfaraz could be a safer bet.
Batsmen
Babar Azam is the key man in this game and Karachi will need the Pakistan captain and world's second-best T20i batsmen to fire at the top of the order. He is 10.5 credits but worth the outlay. Tom Banton is cheaper than Chris Gayle and so perhaps the safer option of Quetta's two new power-hitting openers. Lower down the pricing scale, should he play then Joe Clarke looks great value at 8.5 credits.
All rounder
Both teams are blessed with plenty of all-round talent, with Dan Christian arriving at the PSL on the back of Big Bash League success. Imad Wasim is the same price, as are Mohammad Nabi and Ben Cutting, but the former two look the top options based on their most recent form. Mohammad Nawaz bowled well for Pakistan against South Africa, meanwhile.
Bowlers
Mohammad Hasnain and Mohammad Amir are both nine credits and both key with the ball for their respective teams. Naseem Shah has not been selected often so far, but at 8.5 credits the teenage sensation could prove a key choice too. Waqas Maqsood is also 8.5 credits but has proved his form in this fixture before too.
Captain /Vice Captain
Babar Azam finished the last PSL tournament in match-winning batting form and will be hoping to start this one in the same vein of form. He is a good captain choice if he hits the ground running. Imad Wasim's all-round talent and recent bowling form could make him a decent vice-captain option.
KAR vs QUE Dream11 Team Prediction
Batsmen:Babar Azam (c), Tom Banton, Joe Clarke
All Rounder:Dan Christian, Imad Wasim (vc), Mohammad Nawaz
Wicket Keeper:Sarfaraz Ahmed
Bowler:Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Waqas Maqsood
Quetta Gladiators Team News & Playing 11
QTG Team News
Chris Gayle and Tom Banton are the top additions for Quetta Gladiators and they could open up at the top of the order in this match.
QTG Key Players
Tom Banton: His T20 strike rate of 152.40 shows why so much is expected of the big-hitting English wicket-keeper-batsman,
Mohammad Nawaz: Tidy with the ball for Pakistan against South Africa, finishing the three-game series by taking 2-13 and scoring 18* in the final game.
Chris Gayle: The 41-year-old West Indian icon simply cannot be written off, as he proved with some big blows for Kings XI Punjab during the IPL.
QTG Team Form
Quetta Gladiators finished fifth last season in a disappointing title defence that simply failed to ignite. They won just four matches and missed out on the play-offs on net run rate.
Quetta Gladiators Predicted Playing 11
Chris Gayle, Tom Banton, Anwar Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Naseem Shah, Usman Shinwari, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Hasnain
KRK vs QTG Team Form in Last Five Matches
KRK : WWLWW
QTG : WNRLLL
Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators Head to Head
Despite their different fortunes last season, Quetta Gladiators won both games against Karachi Kings and have now claimed seven wins in ten previous matches in this fixture. Both times they backed solid bowling performances – restricting the Kings to 156/9 and 150/5 with good batting displays. Azam Khan hit 46 from 30 balls as they chased the first to win by five wickets with an over to spare. Most recently, they needed just 16.2 overs for another five-wicket win, after Naseem Shah’s excellent bowling.
KRK vs QTG Head to Head Stats in T20
Matches Played
KRK Won
QTG Won
Tie
No Result
10
3
7
0
0
Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators Betting Odds
Karachi Kings have strengthened a winning team for this season. Not only do they start the tournament as favourites for the overall title, they are also therefore big favourites to start the tournament with a big win.
Who will win Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators?
Karachi Kings are favourites to win this match, and start their title defence with a win. Quetta Gladiators are fairly big outsiders.
Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators Top Team Batsmen
Babar Azam is ranked second in the world in T20i cricket for his batting and was integral to the Kings’ success last season. He is favourite to be Karachi’s top team batsman in this match, ahead of Joe Clarke and Sharjeel Khan who could feature up the order with him.
Chris Gayle is favourite for Quetta, meanwhile, with Tom Banton another key man up the order and Azam Khan having boasted success in this fixture before.
Babar Azam was Karachi Kings’ top man last season and top-scored in both the Qualifier and the Final earlier this year to earn them the title. He is their key man with the bat and likely to be prominent up the order again.
Chris Gayle rolled back the years with some of his IPL performances, meanwhile – he can never be written off, especially in T20 cricket.
Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators Top Team Bowler
Mohammad Amir is favourite to be Karachi Kings’ top team bowler as he leads the attack but a couple of their perhaps under-appreciated bowlers could prove interesting picks too – namely captain Imad Wasim, who found wicket-taking form at the BBL, and Waqas Maqsood who bowled really well when these teams last me too.
For Quetta, Mohammad Hasnain is favourite, but young paceman Naseem Shah was the star man when these sides last met and Mohammad Nawaz arrives at the PSL after some good form for Pakistan. Both are interesting alternative picks.
Mohammad Amir is favourite as leader of the Karachi Kings’ attack and there is no question he is a key man with the ball. Imad Wasim’s wicket-taking form makes him a tempting alternative, however.
The same goes for the Gladiators, where Naseem Shah has plenty to offer and his generous price is worth taking a gamble on.
Karachi Kings are favourites to beat Quetta Gladiators and start their title defence with a win and, on paper, they certainly seem to have the stronger line-up.
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Feb 20, 2021
19:30 IST / 14:00 GMT
National Stadium - Karachi, Pakistan
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