Kings, Qalandars fight for their first PSL title today

KARACHI: The first time finalists Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars will meet in what could be a gripping decider of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 here at the National Stadium on Tuesday (today).

The clash, between traditional rivals Karachi and Lahore, begins at 8pm PST. Karachi Kings, runners-up of the six-team league phase, conquered the league’s top outfit Multan Sultans in the Super Over in the qualifier on November 14.

Lahore, who always were the finishers at the rock bottom in the previous four editions, this time bewildered everyone with their stand-out performances, reaching their maiden final by beating Multan Sultans by 25 runs in the second eliminator on Sunday.

“It will be a big game. I am really excited,” Karachi Kings skipper Imad wasim told a virtual news conference on Monday. “Both teams are excited. As we have made it to the final for the first time we will try to play our best cricket as we have been playing in the event so far,” Imad said.

He said that their plan is to keep West Indies stumper Chadwick Walton in the final. “He is a hard-hitting batsman and we will send him to bat at the number at which he has been playing,” Imad said, when asked about the inclusion of Mohammad Rizwan. “If there is no injury then we plan to retain Walton,” he said.

“Lahore have been performing well but this is the final in which you have to hold your nerves and stick to your basics. In our team, we have players who can turn the match around,” Imad said.

“Lahore are hard to beat but no team is unbeatable. Both teams are well-deserving finalists and good luck to both,” Imad said. “We made mistakes against Multan in the qualifier. People are calling us underdogs, but we are not that. We are never relaxed and have come here to win,” Imad said.

When asked whether they would make any change to the side for the final, Imad said, “We will see. Keeping in view Lahore’s strength there may be one or two changes,” he said. Meanwhile, Lahore Qalandars’ captain Sohail Akhtar said that they got a good momentum after playing two good games in the playoffs.

“We have good momentum after playing two good matches. Karachi Kings also played a good game. Both teams are well-balanced and the fans will witness a good final,” Akhtar said. When asked about his own performance, he said, “I did perform well in the league phase. It’s T20 cricket and one or two players perform in a game, not all.

“Every one of our players has performed and contributed to our successes which took us to the final,” he said. Lahore and Karachi have faced each other ten times in the PSL with Karachi winning six matches and Qalandars four.

In this edition the two teams played two games against each other and won one each at their own backyards. The final will be supervised by England’s Michael Gough and Pakistan’s Aleem Dar.

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Karachi Kings: Imad Wasim (c), Aamer Yamin, Alex Hales (England), Arshad Iqbal, Awais Zia, Babar Azam, Cameron Delport (South Africa), Chadwick Walton (West Indies), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Sharjeel Khan, Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies), Umaid Asif, Umer Khan, Usama Mir, Waqas Maqsood, Wayne Parnel (South Africa)

Lahore Qalandars: Sohail Akhtar (c), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, David Wiese (South Africa), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Shinwari, Samit Patel (England), Haris Rauf, Salman Irshad, Ben Dunk (Australia), Farzan Raja, Jaahid Ali, Abid Ali, Mohammad Faizan, Maaz Khan, Dane Vilas (South Africa), Dilbar Hussain.