Thirteen All: Islamabad and Peshawar Head to Gaddafi Perfectly Deadlocked — and Batting First Wins 60% of the Time There
Match: Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi | PSL 2026
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Time: 7:00 PM PKT, 31 March 2026
Twenty-six PSL meetings. Thirteen wins each. No dominant team, no soft touches, just the same result over and again: whoever plays better on the day. Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi own the competition's most evenly contested rivalry, and it has never once felt like a formality.
They meet again Tuesday at Gaddafi. The toss will matter more than it usually does.
Why the Toss Matters Here
Gaddafi Stadium has hosted 96 completed T20 matches. Teams batting first have won 60% of them. That is not marginal — it is one of the more pronounced bat-first advantages among major T20 venues. The average first-innings score is 173.7. Teams chasing average 152.3. That 21-run differential is the ground telling you something.
The powerplay here averages 50.6 runs at a run rate of 8.4 — above Pakistan's benchmark of 8.02. Death overs run at 10.77, above the national benchmark of 10.09. This is a high-octane venue where totals compound quickly once you get in, and the first team at the crease consistently scores more than the side chasing.
The Venue Explorer has the full breakdown, including chase win percentages split by total. Above 175, chasing teams have a particularly tough record here.
Key Battles
Shadab Khan vs Babar Azam
Babar Azam arrives at Gaddafi as captain of Peshawar and the most influential batter in the PSL. His record here is exceptional: 1,660 runs in 43 innings at an average of 48.8 and strike rate of 136. Nobody has scored more runs at this ground.
Against Shadab Khan, however, Babar operates in a lower gear. In 116 balls across their T20 career, he has scored 139 runs at a strike rate of 119.83 with three dismissals. That is contained by his standards — Babar scores at well over 140 against most bowlers in most conditions. Shadab finds his tempo, disciplines his scoring, and has removed him three times.
The consequence is straightforward: if Shadab keeps Babar to under a run-a-ball in his spell, Peshawar need someone else to accelerate.
Explore Babar's full career stats.
Shadab Khan vs Mohammad Haris
Where Shadab contains Babar, Mohammad Haris goes the other way. In 50 balls against Shadab, Haris has hit 91 runs at a strike rate of 182. Three dismissals in that span means Shadab has his number eventually — but Haris does damage on the way. He attacks the leg side, comes down the pitch, does not respect the reputation.
That tension — does Shadab attack Haris or protect himself? — is one of Tuesday's richest tactical questions. Check the full matchup on the Matchup Explorer.
| Batter (vs Shadab) | Balls | Runs | SR | Dismissals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babar Azam | 116 | 139 | 119.8 | 3 |
| Mohammad Haris | 50 | 91 | 182.0 | 3 |
| James Vince | 40 | 74 | 185.0 | 1 |
Khurram Shahzad vs Devon Conway
Peshawar's Khurram Shahzad is one of the PSL's most reliable new-ball operators. Devon Conway, likely opening for Islamabad, is the kind of technically correct batter who absorbs pace and builds through the powerplay. The early exchange between Shahzad's seam movement and Conway's compact defence will shape IU's first six overs.
Use the Stat Builder to query both players' recent PSL powerplay numbers.
Head-to-Head
The numbers are almost absurd in their evenness. Twenty-six PSL meetings. Thirteen wins each. The record contains nothing beyond the aggregate — no dominant team, no particular home advantage.
The two most recent meetings show the range of outcomes in this fixture. In May 2025, Peshawar chased down 143 at Gaddafi with six wickets in hand. A few weeks earlier, Islamabad put up 243/4 and won by 102 runs. Both results in the same season.
| Last 5 Meetings | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| May 2025, Gaddafi | Peshawar Zalmi | 6 wkts |
| Apr 2025, Rawalpindi | Islamabad United | 102 runs |
| Mar 2024, Karachi | Islamabad United | 5 wkts |
| Mar 2024, Rawalpindi | Islamabad United | 29 runs |
| Feb 2024, Gaddafi | Peshawar Zalmi | 8 runs |
At Gaddafi specifically, the last four meetings between these sides have split 2-2. Tuesday makes five.
Both squads carry enough firepower to post 180 here, and enough bowling to restrict the opposition below 160. The ground's bat-first bias gives the toss-winning captain a genuine edge. Whether that edge holds will depend on who builds momentum in the powerplay.
Full phase-by-phase stats for both squads on the Stat Builder.