Game on...

Durban sees the locking of horns of South Africa and Australia on Thursday. Kingsmead, known for its unpredictability, will be a challenge not only to the players on the field but also those playing on the Fantain Fantasy platform. The weather might be a bit of a concern as showers cannot be ruled out. This means that with the possibility of Duckworth and Lewis crashing in, the teams would do well if they kept an eye on the run rate at all times. Just in case.
On the news front. The injury-ridden players - Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and Vernon Philander will be seen back on the team. Dale Steyn is still ruled out. There will not be much of a change in the Australian team especially after having defeated England recently. Point to be noted is that South Africa is planning to slow things down. Pitch-wise. Maharaj’s spin element will come in handy.
Probable 11 SA- Elgar, Markram, Amla, ABD, Faf, De Kock, Philander, Maharaj, Rabada, Morkel, Ngidi/Bavuma AUS- Warner, Ba…

PSL 9 - Islamabad United - Quetta Gladiators
Match 9 of the Pakistan Super League takes place with Islamabad United meeting Quetta Gladiators. Both teams have two points on the board. Both from two matches. But the gladiators are higher up on the table - two places higher - with a better run rate. This run rate need not always matter only when Duckworth and Lewis make their appearance. At times like these when the points tally, the rate will give you a better chance to enter the next round. The first 8 matches took place in Dubai. Now the venue shifts to Sharjah.
Islamabad United You should know that Islamabad United has won the tournament in 2016. The year the PSL was inaugurated. They need to buck up to bring the team up the points table. Misbah Ul Haq recovers from his hamstring injury and is likely to be back in the team today. Asif Ali might lose his place in the process. JP Duminy has also arrived in the UAE and is in good form. Duminy might replace Luke Ronchi who has not shown…

PSL 8 - Karachi Kings - Lahore Qalandars
It’s not the first time that the team at the top of the table meets the team at the bottom. It is also not unusual to see the favourites of the season aka defending champions get defeated by a team that is making its debut in the tournament. It’s cricket. Anything can happen. Today’s match is between Karachi Kings - top of the table with two wins from two matches - and Lahore Qalandars - bottom of the table with two losses from two matches. Having said that, anything can happen. Please note that Karachi Kings also defeated the defending Champions Peshawar Zalmi. But then so did debutant Multan Sultans.
Karachi Kings - many popular players. And most importantly, many inform players. That plays a key role. Colin Ingram. Ravi Bopara. Imad Wasim. T Mills. And you have the reliable players. Shahid Afridi. Babar Azam. M Irfan.
Lahore Qalandars might have had a poor start to this tournament. But there are a few players that are bound to deserve a plac…

Team second and third on the points table meet. Both teams have two points on the board. Karachi Kings have played only one match and have won it. A good run rate of +0.950. Team Zalmi, on the other hand, has played two matches. Won one and lost one. Same two points but with a lower run rate of +0.6690.
Karachi Kings have made it to the playoffs in 2016 and 2017. They would like to believe that they have what it takes this year to make it to the finals. Peshawar Zalmi, on the other hand, is the defending champions. Ordinarily, they would be on a high note. But having played and lost the first match of PSL 2018 to Newbie Multan Sultans would have helped them get back to the ground. You may have won the tournament last year but every day is a new ball game. The Kings and Zalmi are fairly well placed. And balanced. While Zalmi has a strong top order, the batting depth of the Kings is deep in the middle. The team bowling first would want to restrict the opposition to a low score. That is t…

Multan Sultans, the newbie of PSL is right on top of the table with two wins from two matches. The other teams are stunned. Both the teams who have played against the Sultans and the ones who have not. With four points to their credit and a run rate of +1.2760, Multan Sultans are the current champs of PSL 2018.
They meet Islamabad United today. They have lost the only match that they have played. But we are still at the beginning of the tournament. There is no telling how things could go. What we can do is keep a track of the players who are playing consistently and add them to our fantain fantasy lineup.
Multan Sultans are not likely to change their playing eleven. Playing XI:Shoaib Malik (c), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Kieron Pollard, Sohail Tanvir, Darren Bravo, Ahmed Shehzad, Imran Tahir, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Saif Badar Bench:Umar Gul, Thisara Perera, Ross Whiteley, Nicholas Pooran, Hardus Viljoen, Shan Masood, Umar Siddiq, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas , Abdull…

Multan Sultans are on a super high. They played their first ever match at the Pakistan Super League and they defeated the defending champions - Peshawar Zalmi. They play their second match today. Back-to-back. They don’t mind. The adrenaline is still pumping high. The opponent should be honestly terrified.


Multan Sultans : Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Darren Bravo, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Shoaib Malik(c), Thisara Perera, Sohail Tanvir, Imran Tahir, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Nicholas Pooran, Hardus Viljoen, Ross Whiteley, Umar Siddiq, Umar Gul, Mohammad Irfan, Sohaib Maqsood, Saif Badar, Kashif Bhatti, Abdullah Shafique With coach Wasim Akram to train the team, Multan is looking for a winning start. This team is the latest addition to the PSL. Tom Moody is the head coach. Big names are associated with this team. Shoaib Malik leads the team.
RETAINED PLAYERS:- 1.Shoaib Malik, 2.Kieron Pollard, 3.Kumar Sangakkara, 4.Sohail Tanvir, 5.Mohammad Irfan, 6.Junaid Khan, 7.Sohaib Maqsood, 8.Irfan Kh…

With the first match between defending champions and newbies turning out to be a thriller, the second and third match today could be just as exciting.

Quetta Gladiators : Rilee Rossouw, Jason Roy, Kevin Pietersen, Rameez Raja, Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Shane Watson, Mohammad Nawaz, Mahmudullah, Jofra Archer, Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Anwar Ali, Rashid Khan, Hassan Khan Mohammad, Mir Hamza, Rahat Ali Karachi Kings : Babar Azam, Joe Denly, Colin Ingram, Khurram Manzoor, Lendl Simmons, Saifullah Bangash, Eoin Morgan, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Mohammed Taha, Tabish Khan, Imad Wasim(c), Ravi Bopara, Hasan Mohsin, Shahid Afridi, David Wiese, Usama Mir, Tymal Mills, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan
Many of the faces at PSL are new faces. When we play the matches on the Fantain Fantasy app, we are more than likely to be stumped because of this. One way to decide if you want the player on the app is if they have played an international match and have made a mark. For example, many of them have…