Quetta Gladiators Monday won the toss and elected to field first against Karachi Kings in the 22nd match of the eighth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) at Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Quetta Gladiators have played seven matches in PSL 8 so far, and they have lost six of them. Their only victory was against Karachi Kings. Tonight’s match will be their eighth.

On the other hand, Karachi Kings have played eight matches so far, and they have lost six of them. Their two victories were against Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans. They are playing their ninth match tonight.

Last night, Islamabad United won a close encounter against Quetta Gladiators even though Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side were not that far behind but their bowling line-up let them down with Mohammad Hasnain unavailable to play, it made it tough for them to defend 180. Najibullah Zadran made an impression straightaway after joining Quetta and struck a superb half-century while Mohammad Nawaz kept them in the hunt with a brisk fifty. Umar Akmal was given another go and he rolled back the years by scoring 43 off just 14 deliveries.

United invited Gladiators to bat first and the move paid off as Fazalhaq Farooqi was getting the ball to swing prodigiously and the wily customer in T20 cricket posed problems for Quetta in the powerplay, dismissing Will Smeed and Yasir Khan early in the piece.

Sarfaraz Ahmed, after a brief stay at the crease, went for a slog sweep and almost cleared the fence but Mubasir Khan plucked a stunner out of thin air and thereon Iftikhar Ahmed couldn't kickstart his Iftimania as Gladiators were struggling at 17/4 in the sixth over. Thereon, Nawaz and Zadran lifted the entire Quetta team with a fabulous 104-run stand and gave them a fighting total. However, Azam Khan and Faheem Ashraf soaked in the pressure after losing a cluster of wickets, following an enterprising knock by Colin Munro, and saw them home with three balls to spare.

On the other hand, Karachi Kings are reeling from a defeat at the hands of the same opponent Islamabad United after being unable to defend 201 the other night in Rawalpindi. It was once again Azam Khan who hogged the limelight with a spectacular 72* and Faheem was among the run-getters as well. Karachi must have been scratching their heads after dominating that game for the most part. Imad Wasim led them to action one again with an enthralling 92* but the fulcrum of batting line-up couldn't finish the game and didn't get much support from his teammates which has hurt them in their entire PSL 8 campaign thus far.

Gladiators rank last on the points table with two points while Kings rank second last with four points.

Both teams are almost out of contention for a place in playoffs but need some positives and consolation victories before they head out of the competition.

Karachi Kings Playing XI: Adam Rossington (wk), Tayyab Tahir, Shoaib Malik, Qasim Akram, Matthew Wade, Imad Wasim (c), James Fuller, Aamer Yamin, Musa Khan, Mohammad Amir, Tabraiz Shamsi
 
Quetta Gladiators Playing XI: Martin Guptill, Omair Yousuf, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nawaz, Umar Akmal, Dwaine Pretorius, Naseem Shah, Naveen-ul-Haq