Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2017, 3rd Qualifying Final, Preview: Karachi Kings take on Peshawar Zalmi

The second edition of PSL has reached the business end, as the penultimate match of season two will be played, on Friday, between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings at Dubai.

The second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) has reached the business end, as the penultimate match of season two will be played, on Friday, between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DSC), Dubai. It will be the third and last Qualifying Final of PSL 2017, and the winner of this match will take on Quetta Gladiators in final. It will be played on Sunday, March 5, at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Before the ultimate encounter, these two teams will have a stern test though, as they battle it out to become the second side to play in the historic final in front of the home crowd. Imran Khan: Hosting PSL 2017 Final in ‘curfew like situation’ would dampen PAK’s image

If we take a look at these two teams’ run in the league so far, it is hard to separate them in terms of either form or luck. Darren Sammy-led Peshawar Zalmi finished as the top team in the points table at the end of the league stage, after they won 4 of their 8 games. On the other hand, Kumar Sangakkara’s Karachi Kings were not far behind, as they finished third with same number of wins from their 8 games. The only differentiating factor between the two sides was the net run rate, where Zalmi beat them with a positive run rate.

If we go deeper in their campaign, the two teams played each other twice. They had emerged winner on one occasion each. In the first of the two encounters, Peshawar beat Karachi by 7 wickets. England skipper Eoin Morgan played unbeaten knock of 80 off 57 in the chase, and was adjudged as Man of the Match. However, his services won’t be available to his team as he is currently in the Caribbean leading England in the ODI series. PSL a launchpad for young Pakistan players, says Usama Mir

The second time these two teams met in PSL 2, a collective batting effort saw Karachi post 174 runs on the board. Babar Azam, Sangakkara, Shoaib Malik, Ravi Bopara: all excelled with the bat. In reply, Sohail Khan, Usman Khan and Usama Mir restricted Peshawar to 165, despite Shahid Afridi’s brilliant 28-ball 54.

In the first qualifying final, Peshawar lost to Quetta by an agonising margin of 1 run, despite Dawid Malan, Mohammad Hafeez and Afridi’s blistering knocks. They would want to make the most of this second chance to seal the final spot. The key players for them will be Kamran Akmal, Marlon Samuels, Hafeez, Chris Jordan and Afridi. PSL 2017: Afridi hints at Sammy’s availability for final in Lahore if PZ qualify

On the other hand, Karachi had a phenomenal, low-scoring game. They defended a modest 126 against the defending champions Islamabad United. The stars of their win were Mohammad Aamer, Mir and Imad Wasim with the ball. Besides the trio, the team will look up to its foreign stars such as Sangakkara, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard for inspiration. Apart from them, the local dup of Malik and Babar Azam will also play a crucial role.

Ideally, the teams will want to have a greater contribution from their local players: if they make it to the final, they will have to rely on their home players as the final is scheduled to be played in Lahore. Quetta Gladiators’ overseas players have already backed out of it in the wake of unrest in Pakistan, where major blasts across the country in last fortnight have killed over 100 people. It is likely that the foreign stars of Peshawar and Karachi will also back out if they make it to the final. This will leave the two sides, captained by overseas players, severely depleted. Hence, they would want their local players to step up and make an impact.

Teams:

Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara (c & wk), Shoaib Malik, Ravi Bopara, Kieron Pollard, Imad Wasim, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Amir, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Mohsin, Mahela Jayawardene, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Manzoor, Ryan McLaren, Rahat Ali, Saifullah Bangash, Shahzaib Hasan

Peshawar Zalmi: Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Marlon Samuels, Mohammad Hafeez, Shakib Al Hasan, Sohaib Maqsood, Darren Sammy (c), Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Asghar, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Andre Fletcher, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan jnr, Chris Jordan, Junaid Khan, Khushdil Shah, Samit Patel, Dawid Malan

Match Timings: (20:00 local | 16:00 GMT | 21:30 IST)