United land in Karachi as PSL gears up for grand finale

KARACHI: Foreign players of Islamabad United arrived in Karachi late on Friday amid tight security for the grand finale of Pakistan Super League third edition (PSL-3) would be played on March 25 at National Stadium.

Cricket fanatics in Karachi are fully prepared and excited as the city of lights is gearing up for hosting the epic PSL finale between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United.

The city is presenting a festive look  as hoardings and standees  of cricketers have been installed at various locations, especially around the National Stadium and the roads connecting it to other parts of the metropolis, such as Karsaz, University Road and Shahra-e-Faisal.

The visiting players and officials have been provided with presidential-level security with thousands of security personnel deployed to ensure smooth staging of the final.

The foreign players who have arrived in Karachi from Dubai, included South African JP Duminy, England’s Samit Patel, New Zealand's Luke Ronchi, Ashes winner Steven Finn, West Indian  Samuel Badree, Chadwick Walton and former Australian cricketer and United coach Dean Jones. While three players of United Misbah-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Sami had arrived in the port city from Lahore earlier on Friday.

Islamabad United’s Sam Billings had already refused to visit Pakistan as he failed to get NOC to travel from his county team Kent. Alex Hales was another foreign player of United who refused to travel Pakistan for PSL matches.

Earlier on Friday, Players of Peshawar Zalmi’s including skipper Darren Sammy, Andre Fetcher, Chris Jordan, Liam Dawson were among the players who landed in Karachi which is presenting a festive look on the eve of PSL final.

The final of PSL third edition would be played between Zalmi and United as Islamabad, the first champions of the inaugural edition of PSL, defeated Karachi Kings in the qualifier at Dubai to make place for final, while the defending champions Peshawar defeated Gladiators in a last ball thriller in the first eliminator and then outplayed Kings in the second eliminator in Lahore to reach final of PSL 2018.