Will Zalmi juggernaut continue tonight?

KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi will be looking to make it two in a row when they take on Islamabad United in the HBL Pakistan Super League final – billed as Karachi’s biggest match of the decade — here at the National Stadium on Sunday (today).

Zalmi, the defending champions, have won their last four matches at a stretch and will look to capitalise on the momentum to conquer United, easily the most successful team of PSL 3.

While Zalmi will be hoping that their one-man demolition squad, Kamran Akmal, will click again United will be looking towards the in-form Luke Ronchi to help them regain the coveted crown.

Both men have dominated PSL this season and are the chief reasons why their teams are in a position to take a shot at the crown.

Kamran Akmal, Pakistan’s discarded wicketkeeper-batsman, has once again proved to be a match-winner as he has helped Zalmi win three of their last four knockout games. In the playoff against Karachi Kings at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, Kamran was simply unstoppable. He is the highest scorer of the tournament with 424 runs from 12 matches and would go all out to finish PSL on a high.

If he gets going tonight then United will struggle to stay in the game.

“Kamran is in red-hot form,” said Darren Sammy, Peshawar’s captain, who hoped that his team will win its fifth knockout game in a row to defend the title.

But if Kamran is in top gear then same could be true about Ronchi. The seasoned New Zealander was snubbed by the IPL but that league’s teams must be regretting now. The aggressive batsman is the third highest run-getter of PSL 3 with 383 runs.

Asked whether Akmal and Ronchi could once again play lead roles in the final, JP Duminy who is likely to lead Islamabad United said that it would be the team adapting to the conditions in Karachi which will have the upper hand.

“It’s a new pitch and new conditions and much will depend on which teams adapts to it better,” he said.

Waqar Younis, Islamabad’s coach, said that he is expecting a high-scoring final.

“We haven’t played any match here and there has been no international cricket but we know that there have been many high-scoring matches here in domestic cricket. The pitch here looks good for batting and I think it is going to be a high-scoring final,” said the former Pakistan captain.

Misbah-ul-Haq, Islamabad’s veteran captain is expected to miss the final because of a hairline fracture in his wrist. But Waqar said that a final decision will be taken after Saturday evening’s training session.

The security, meanwhile, is tight in the city especially in and around the National Stadium. Thousands of security personnel have been deployed to ensure a smoothing staging of the PSL final, which is the biggest cricket match in the city since 2009 when Karachi hosted a Test match against Sri Lanka.

The weather is warm yet pleasant and the playing conditions at the National Stadium are expected to be batting-friendly. The final has been sold out.

Squads:

Peshawar Zalmi (likely): Kamran Akmal (wk), Andre Fletcher, Mohammad Hafeez, Saad Nasim, Liam Dawson, Darren Sammy (capt), Chris Jordan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif, Sameen Gul.

Islamabad United (likely): Luke Ronchi (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, JP Duminy (capt), Hussain Talat, Samit Patel, Asif Ali, Chadwick Walton/Samuel Badree, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Sami, Amad Butt.