KARACHI: Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan won the toss and elected to field first against Peshawar Zalmi in the Qualifier of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 11 at the National Bank Stadium on Tuesday.
Historically, both teams have faced each other 27 times in PSL history, with Zalmi and United level on 13 wins each, while one match ended in a no result. Interestingly, this will be the first encounter between the two sides this season after their scheduled league stage game was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Islamabad United win the toss and elect to bowl first #HBLPSL11 | #NewEra | #PZvIU pic.twitter.com/Xx8YceSHAf
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) April 28, 2026
Key players to watch
Peshawar’s Sufiyan Muqeem is the top wicket-taker of PSL 2026 so far with 19 wickets, while their star batters Kusal Mendis and Babar Azam lead the run-scoring charts with 500 and 485 runs respectively. These three will once again hold the key for a side that lost just one game in the league stage.
However, Peshawar will want their other batters to step up, as Michael Bracewell is their third-highest run-scorer with just 184 runs.
𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 🔥
Peshawar Zalmi or Islamabad United, who seals their place in the final tonight?
A fierce battle is on the cards ⚔️#HBLPSL1 #NewEra | #PZvIU pic.twitter.com/KkPpudFGKE
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) April 28, 2026
For Islamabad United, Sameer Minhas has been giving breezy starts throughout the tournament and will look to maintain the momentum in the playoffs.
Captain Shadab Khan has also delivered well-rounded performances with both bat and ball, and much will depend on him if Islamabad are to go all the way.
Squads
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐗𝐈𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 🔥
Richard Gleeson returns to replace Salman Irshad for Islamabad United, while Mohammad Haris and Aaron Hardie return for Peshawar Zalmi.#HBLPSL11 | #NewEra | #PZvIU pic.twitter.com/WjluoV1AQD
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) April 28, 2026
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Salman Irshad, Andries Gous, Devon Conway, Faheem Ashraf, Mehran Mumtaz, Mark Chapman, Nisar Ahmed, Mir Hamza Sajjad, Sameen Gul, Sameer Minhas, Imad Wasim, Richard Gleeson, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Pavan Rathnayake, Mohammad Faiq, Mohsin Riaz, Chris Green and Mohammad Salman Mirza.
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (c), Sufiyan Muqeem, Abdul Samad, Ali Raza, Aaron Hardie, Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Haris, Khalid Usman, Abdul Subhan, Tanzid Hasan, Michael Bracewell, Kusal Mendis, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Kashif Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani, Farhan Yousuf, Brian Bennett, Mohammad Basit, James Vince and Shoriful Islam.
