PSL schedule released

LAHORE: The PSL schedule for the 2018 edition has been released and will kick-start from February 22 in Dubai. All PSL 3 matches will be played at 4 venues – Dubai, Sharjah, Lahore, and Karachi as announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Peshawar Zalmi will take on Multan Sultans in the season opener which will be followed by a double-header on Friday, February 23 in the same city. Karachi Kings will take on Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans will play Lahore Qalandars that evening. Islamabad United will kick-start their campaign on Saturday with a game against Peshawar Zalmi and on the same day the Gladiators will also face the Qalandars.

This will be the first ever edition of the PSL when six teams will feature instead of five and each side will play each other twice. This will account for a total of 30 matches during the league stage of the competition that will last till Friday, March 16. This will be followed by the playoffs that will be held from March 18 onward. The top two sides in the group stages of the competition will clash first up, with the winner qualifying for the final. This will be followed by an Eliminator on Tuesday, March 20, with the losing team bowing out and the winning side taking on the losing team from the first Qualifier.

This third match, also an Eliminator, will be played on Wednesday, March 21, while the final will be held four days later on March 25.These two Eliminators will be played in Lahore while the final will be held in Karachi. These are the only three matches that will be played in Pakistan according to this Pakistan Super League schedule.

There was a good demand for PSL tickets through the league stages of the tournament before it touched crescendo when the final came to Lahore. The complete PSL fixtures with time are placed below for the 2018 edition.

Schedule (date, match, venue)

February 22: Peshawar Zalmi v Multan Sultans Dubai. February 23: Karachi Kings v Quetta Gladiators & Multan Sultans v Lahore Oalandars Dubai.

February 24: Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi & Quetta Gladiators v Lahore Qalandars Dubai

February 25: Multan Sultans v Islamabad United & Karachi Kings v Peshawar Zalmi Dubai: February 26. Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalandars Dubai.

February 28: Islamabad United v Quetta Gladiators Sharjah. March 1: Quetta Gladiators v Peshawar Zalmi Sharjah

March 2: Multan Sultans v Karachi Kings & Lahore Qalandars v Islamabad United Sharjah. March 3, Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators & Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars Sharjah

March 4: Islamabad United v Karachi Kings Sharjah. March 6: Peshawar Zalmi v Multan Sultans Dubai.

March 7: Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators Dubai. March 8: Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars & Karachi Kings v Quetta Gladiators Dubai.

March 9: Multan Sultans v Lahore Qalandars & Peshawar Zalmi v Islamabad United Dubai.

March 10: Multan Sultans v Karachi Kings & Peshawar Zalmi v Quetta Gladiators Dubai. March 11, Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalandars Dubai March 13: Multan Sultans v Islamabad United Sharjah

March 14, Quetta Gladiators v Lahore Qalandars Sharjah. March 15: Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings & Quetta Gladiators v Islamabad United Sharjah. March 16. Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars & Islamabad United v Karachi Kings Sharjah

Play-Offs: March 18: Qualifier - Team 1 v Team 2 Dubai.

March 20: Eliminator, Team 3 v Team 4 Lahore. March 21: Eliminator 2 Eliminator 1 Winner v Qualifier Loser Lahore

March 25: Final Karachi.