Karachi : It all comes down to Sunday when Islamabad United, winners of the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), take on last year’s winners Peshawar Zalmi at Karachi’s National Stadium for the 2018 trophy.
This year’s edition has seen its fair share of thrills, from Kamran Akmal’s blistering batting to Shaheen Shah Afridi’s five-wicket haul, to an unforgettable super over between old rivals Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars.
With the final just two days away, here is a look at the teams and their long, bumpy road to the final.
Peshawar Zalmi
The 2017 champions are led by two-time T20 World Cup winning captain Darren Sammy. Known for taking selfies after a win, this time around the West Indian star has taken to wiping his bat after smashing boundaries like a sword.
Peshawar Zalmi finally broke their one-run jinx when they beat Quetta Gladiators in the first eliminator at Gaddafi Stadium in a last-ball thriller.
In the inaugural edition of PSL, Peshawar had been knocked out of competition by Quetta. Last year, they were once again in a similar pickle when Mohammad Nawaz restricted Peshawar to just five runs in last three balls and kept them away from victory by one run.
In PSL 2018, Peshawar had a rather lacklustre start. They lost their opening match to PSL debutants Multan Sultans by 7 wickets. In their next match, they faced former champions Islamabad United and beat them comfortably by 34 runs.
The game against Karachi Kings saw Peshawar lose by 5 wickets. In the next match, Darren Sammy, hopping on one leg, turned the game around for his team when he smashed two sixes and scored 16* off 4 balls to ensure Peshawar’s victory.
Peshawar next thrashed Lahore Qalandars by 10 wickets, with English spinner Liam Dawson winning Player-of-the-Match award in his debut PSL game for his three-wicket haul.
The next three games saw Peshawar in trouble, as they lost back-to-back games before Kamran Akmal put the team back on track with 75 off just 51 balls against Karachi Kings. An unbeaten 107 off 61 balls by Kamran Akmal in the next game against Lahore Qalandars sealed Peshawar’s place in the knockouts.
The first eliminator saw the Yellow Storm face none other than Quetta Gladiators, where they broke their one-run jinx and went through to the second eliminator against Karachi Kings, where Peshawar beat Karachi by 13 runs to ensure their place in the final.
