Match: Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi
Date: 9 February, Thursday
Time: 12am SGT (Friday)/9:30pm IST/4pm GMT
Competition: Pakistan Super League 2017
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
TV Channel: There is no live TV coverage in Singapore.
Live streaming: Cricket Gateway and PSL Youtube channel will provide live coverage online across the globe.
Overview
Right after Ali Zafar and Jamaican superstar Shaggy finish performing at the opening ceremony of the second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), the focus will shift to the opening clash in which defending champions Islamabad United take on Peshawar Zalmi.
Misbah-ul-Haq's men, who overcame a poor start to the inaugural season and stitched successive wins to make the final stages and win the title, have retained most of their players and are looking settled. With a good mix of experienced campaigners and youngsters in their squad, Islamabad will be a side to beat in the upcoming tournament.
Also see: Full schedule, team list of PSL 2017
The likes of Sharjeel Khan and Ben Duckett at the top make Islamabad batting unit, which also has Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Hussain Talat and the skipper himself, a strong one. With Steve Finn replacing the suspended West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell, Misbah's men also have a strong pace attack that will be working under Pakistan legend Wasim Akram.
Zalmi also have a star-studded unit capable of testing Islamabad. With Darren Sammy leading the side, the clash of captains, who have tremendous success in the shortest format of the game, will grab the spotlight on Thursday.
Shahid Afridi, who skippered the side last season, will look to make an impact and prove his worth while big-hitters Eoin Morgan, Marlon Samuels, Mohammad Hafeez and Tillakaratne Dilshan bring in experience to the side.
Bangladesh stars Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, who are on international duty will miss out for Zalmi but both teams have enough firepower to produce a cracker on the opening night.
TV Schedule
Pakistan: Ten Sports, PTV, Geo Super
Sri Lanka: Ten Sports, CSN
UK: Prime TV
West Indies: Flow TV
Bangladesh: Gazi TV
UAE: OSN Sports
Teams News
Islamabad
Squad: Misbah (c), Watson,Finn, Sharjeel, Irfan, Badree, Sami, Latif, Haddin, Billings, Talat, Butt, D Smith, Duckett, Shadab, Zohaib, Ajmal, Khalid,Ali, Rumman, Muzammil Shah
Peshawar
Squad: Sammy (c), Afridi, Maqsood, Morgan, Wahab, Dilshan, Hafeez, Jordan, Patel, K Akmal, Iftikhar, Harris, Hasan, Asghar, Samuels, Fletcher, Khushdil, Shakib, Tamim, Imran (jr), Junaid, Irfan
