Peshawar Zalmi vs Karachi Kings Betting Tips 21/06/2021

00:52, 21 Jun 2021

Senior Author

00:52, 21 Jun 2021

Zohaib Ahmed is a sports journalist whose profession is to report and edit but whose passion is to predict and bet. He’s been in the industry for more than a decade and has worked/written for various bookmakers/tipsters. His expertise is in cricket, football, MMA, boxing and basketball.

The Eliminator match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 playoffs sees Karachi Kings take on Peshawar Zalmi on June 21 (Monday) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The match is scheduled to begin at 11:30pm IST.

Teams Status

Karachi Kings

For Karachi Kings, their final round robin match against Quetta Gladiators came as a timely relief or a gift from heaven. Desperately needing a victory, Karachi were overjoyed that their final game was against a side that could not buy a win. Thus, Karachi won and their victory over Lahore two nights earlier gave them just enough points and run rate to sneak into the playoffs.

The twin wins do not mean that all is well in camp Karachi. Star pacer Mohammad Amir is wicketless in his last six matches, whereas Sharjeel Khan has had starts of late but not delivered any match winning knocks. The experienced Martin Guptill has flopped completely while Babar Azam, despite leading the PSL 2021 run chart, is missing something.

Of course, the biggest problem of them all is Amir’s spectacular fall. The left-arm pacer, once deemed a generational talent, used to command the respect of world’s best batsmen but has now lost pace and, when the ball does not move much, he becomes the very hittable no matter who the batsman is.

If Karachi have designs of beating Peshawar and defending their title, then Amir has to get his mojo back. Otherwise, no matter how many runs Karachi batters score, with their bowling spearhead being a non-factor, they will be unable to defend most totals.

Peshawar Zalmi

Peshawar Zalmi’s last three opponents are the three sides they can potentially face in the playoffs. The bad thing is that of the three playoff opponents, they have lost to two recently. And the good thing is that the once side they did beat was the one they face next: Karachi Kings.

Peshawar, in their last meeting with Karachi, did not just win, they demolished the port city side. Having restricted the Salman Iqbal-owned team to just 108-9, they got to the target with nine overs and six wickets to spare. The player of the match was deemed to be Hazratallah Zazai but it really should have been Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz, who had trapped Babar Azam lbw on the very first ball he faced. From that point on, Karachi never recovered and Zalmi never relented.

That win for Zalmi snapped a streak of three straight defeats at the hands of Karachi. That streak aside, Peshawar have a brilliant record against Karachi, having beaten them nine times in their 14 meetings for a win percentage of 64.28 – better than their win ratio against any other team.

What do the Sportsbook Say

Brand	Peshawar Zalmi	Karachi Kings
	2.00	1.80
	1.984	1.82
	1.95	1.83

Karachi Kings, despite their inferior record to Peshawar, are the betting favourites. 22Bet has Karachi priced at 1.82 and Peshawar at 1.984. Bet365 has Karachi priced at 1.80 and Peshawar at 2.0, whereas LeoVegas has Karachi available for 1.83 and Peshawar for 1.95.

Tipster’s Angle

Tip: Peshawar Zalmi to win at 2.0

Peshawar have their problems, one such being their misfiring starlet Haider Ali. That said, their problems fade in comparison to Karachi’s who have a ton of out-of-form stars. Will those stars explode now when their team needs them the most? Based on the sample size we’ve seen thus far, it is unlikely, which is why the recommended play here is to back Peshawar with Bet365 at odds of 2.0.

Tip: Peshawar Zalmi Total Runs in First 1 Overs Over 5.5 @ 1.8

Peshawar’s top three batsmen are Hazratallah Zazai, Kamran Akmal and Haider Ali, neither of whom is known to pace their innings. If the ball is there to be hit, or even if it isn’t, these batters throw their bat at it. With out-of-form Mohammad Amir most likely to bowl the opening over, there should be opportunities for Zalmi openers to free their arms, just like it happened in the last match when they scored 10 off Amir’s first over. Thus, Zalmi top three can be backed to give their side a flying start and score more than 5.5 off the first over (22Bet) at odds of 1.8.

Conclusion

Since Karachi’s bowlers are not on their game, their only hope is for one of their openers – Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan – to play a blinder and bat till the end. Their batting can still win them the match, but their bowling is pretty much a lost cause.