Peshawar Zalmi elect to bat first against Multan Sultans

Peshawar Zalmi Friday won the toss and elected to bat first against Multan Sultans in the 27th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight at Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Thanks to the crushing defeat that Islamabad United suffered yesterday to Lahore Qalandars, the winner of today's match has an excellent opportunity to track down Islamabad for second place on the table while the loser of today's game can finish no better than third.

🚨 TOSS UPDATE 🚨@PeshawarZalmi elect to bat.

Follow ball-by-ball updates: https://t.co/FyPmcjYkMz#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #PZvMS pic.twitter.com/rdwfM9K1wF

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 10, 2023

The equation is especially simple for Zalmi, since they face Islamabad in their final match of the league phase on Sunday. Win both today and Sunday, and they are guaranteed to overtake Islamabad for second because their net run rate is better than Islamabad and would not get worse with two wins if both teams wind up equal on 12 points.

Sultans face Quetta Gladiators in their last match after today so even with a win today, they would not only need to beat Quetta but would need help from Zalmi to have them beat Islamabad to guarantee that Sultans finish in second.

PLAYING XIs

Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell, Haseebullah Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Wahab Riaz, Usman Qadir, Arshad Iqbal, Mujeeb Ur Rehman.

Multan Sultans: Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c), Rilee Rossouw, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, Kieron Pollard, Anwar Ali, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Sheldon Cottrell, Ihsanullah.