PSL 2021, Match 4: Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators - Match Preview And Prediction

On Monday (22nd February) night, Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators will take on each other at National Stadium (Karachi) in the fourth match of the PSL 2021.

Both teams will play their second match of this new PSL 2021. In their opening match of this PSL season, while Qalandars claimed a 4-wicket win, Gladiators lost by 7 wickets.

Lahore Qalandars

PSL 2020 runners-up Lahore Qalandars started started the PSL 2021 in a solid fashion with a four-wicket victory against Peshawar Zalmi on Sunday afternoon.

Left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi dominated with the ball in hand from the very first ball of the game, where he dismissed the opener Imam-ul-Haq for a golden duck. Later, in the death overs, he took two more crucial wickets of Sherfane Rutherford (26) and Ravi Bopara (50). His incredible bowling figures of 4-1-14-3 was the reason why Zalmi only managed to score 140/6.

Another 27-year-old left-arm pacer Salman Mirza, who made his T20 debut during Lahore Qalandars’ first game of this season, also bowled very well with the new ball as he dismissed the other opener Kamran Akmal (5) and Haider Ali (0) in the same over and finished with the bowling figures of 4-0-35-2.

While South African all-rounder David Wiese (1/30) also got one wicket, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was very economical with the bowling figures of 4-0-14-0.

In reply, Lahore Qalandars’ top-order batsmen struggled. But Mohammad Hafeez played a very crucial role along with some support from the other batsmen as his 33 not out off 26 balls (5 fours) was one of the reasons why his team successfully managed to chase the target. However, Rashid Khan once again played a very crucial role with the bat as his 27 not out off 15 balls (3 fours and 1 six) was another reason of their successful chase.

Full Squad

Ahmed Danyal, Ben Dunk, David Wiese, Salman Mirza (replacement of injured Dilbar Hussain), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Hafeez, Joe Denly, Rashid Khan, Samit Patel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohail Akhtar, Tom Abell, Salman Ali Agha, Zaid Alam, Zeeshan Ashraf

Quetta Gladiators

The PSL 2019 winners Quetta Gladiators have a very weak start in the PSL 2021 as they suffered a thrashing 7-wicket defeat against the defending champions Karachi Kings in this tournament opener. Surely, Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Gladiators will try their best to come out from this embracement zone very early.

Though Caribbean superstar Chris Gayle started this tournament in a positive way by scoring 39 runs off 24 balls (4 fours and 2 sixes), all other batsmen failed to reach the 20-run mark in that innings as Quetta Gladiators were all-out for just 121 runs in 18.2 overs.

Young fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain dismissed both the openers as he had the brilliant match bowling figures of 4-0-18-2. Also, the left-arm pacer Usman Shinwari (1/10) got the wicket of dangerous looking Joe Clarke (46 off 23 balls), but they didn’t get enough support from the other bowlers as Kings chased down that small target in 13.5 overs without losing any further wicket.

Surely, Quetta Gladiators will have to improve their team performance very quickly.

Full Squad

Sarfaraz Ahmed (C), Anwar Ali, Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Zahid Mahmood, Hassan Khan (partial replacement of Dale Steyn), Tom Banton, Usman Khan Shinwari, Cameron Delport, Qais Ahmad, Abdul Nasir, Saim Ayub, Arish Ali Khan, Usman Khan, Chris Gayle

PSL 2021, Match 4: Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators – Match Prediction

In their head-to-head records, both teams have won 5 matches each. However, Lahore Qalandars are currently enjoying the three-match winning streak against Quetta Gladiators. Also, both teams have managed totally opposite starts in the PSL 2021 as Qalandars claimed a good victory while Gladiators suffered a thrashing defeat.

If, Lahore Qalandars can handle the back-to-back matches, they are the favourite for the upcoming match.