A slip in place for Meredith. There's some movement behind the sightscreen as people are moving across. We wait for them to disperse. We are ready to go again...
1.1
Meredith to Fakhar Zaman, leg byes, 1 run, length ball swinging down leg, Fakhar Zaman looks
Riley Meredith, right-arm fast, comes into the attack
0.6
Naseem Shah to Mohammad Naeem, no run
0.5
Naseem Shah to Mohammad Naeem, no run, a huge appeal for lbw denied! A good length ball in line of the stumps, skids after landing and swings towards the leg-stump. Mohammad Naeem looks to tuck it across
0.4
Naseem Shah to Mohammad Naeem, no run, that's a beauty! In the corridor of uncertainty, seams away after landing, Mohammad Naeem pokes at it and is lucky not to nick it behind
0.3
Naseem Shah to Fakhar Zaman, 1 run, to backward square leg
0.2
Naseem Shah to Fakhar Zaman, no run, audacious from Fakhar Zaman! He charges down the track and Naseem Shah keeps it on a length and swings it in towards leg-stump. He has a slog across the line but only manages to get an inside edge onto the pads
0.1
Naseem Shah to Fakhar Zaman, no run, pacy back of a length ball outside off, shaping away, Fakhar throws his bat at it but only meets thin air
Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Naeem are at the crease. Fakhar Zaman is on strike. Naseem Shah will open the attack
The atmosphere is electrifying at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as the countdown begins for the first ball of PSL 2025.
Teams:
Islamabad United (Playing XI): Andries Gous,Sahibzada Farhan, Colin Munro, Salman Agha, Azam Khan(w), Shadab Khan(c), Jason Holder, Muhammad Shahzad, Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Riley Meredith
Lahore Qalandars (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Naeem, Daryl Mitchell, Sam Billings(w), Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi(c), Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Asif Afridi
Islamabad United have won the toss and have opted to field
Lahore Qalandars had a torrid time last season. They won only one out of ten games and finished at the rock bottom of the table. Nothing worked out for them but this is a new season and an opportunity to start afresh. Lahore Qalandars won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023. So, the pedigree is there, it’s just about capitalising on the key moments and going from strength to strength. As fas as recent history goes between these two teams, Lahore hold a 4-1 win record against Islamabad. It should be a cracker of a contest! Toss and team lineups will be announced shortly...
19:30 Local Time, 14:30 GMT, 20:00 IST: PSL 2025 is here folks! The tenth edition of the tournament will kickstart with the defending champions, Islambadad United set to lock horns with Lahore Qalandars. Islamabad United are the most successful franchise in the history of the competition, having lifted the title three times so far. The final of the last season went down to the wire - Islamabad came good against Multan as they won by a 2-wicket margin on the last ball of the match. Shadab Khan led his side from the front last season and was awarded the player of the tournament for his vital contributions with both bat and ball. Imad Wasim also made crucial contributions in crunch matches. They have retained the core of their squad and have all their bases covered.