Dumped but still flying high!

KARACHI: Two 36-year-olds, discarded by their national teams, hold the key to HBL Pakistan Super League glory.

As Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United clash tonight at the National Stadium for the coveted PSL title, all eyes will be on Kamran Akmal and Luke Ronchi – two wicketkeeper-batsmen, who have provided PSL season 3 with some of the best knocks in Pakistan and the UAE. Both teams will be praying that their man clicks when it will matter the most. The similarities between Kamran and Ronchi seem endless.

Both of them have fallen out of their national teams’ radars but when it comes to PSL 3, they are easily the most valuable players. Kamran is the highest run-getter with 424 runs while Ronchi has piled up 383 runs in the contest so far.

Akmal proved that there is still a lot of cricket left in him just a few days back when he blew away Karachi Kings with a match-winning 77. Previously, he hit two more match-winning knocks to lead Peshawar into the playoffs.

Darren Sammy, the West Indian captain, said that he was confident that Kamran’s “red-hot” form will continue in the final.

JP Duminy, however, has similar expectations from Ronchi smashed an unbeaten 94 against Karachi Kings in the Dubai Qualifier last Sunday to lead Islamabad into the final.