Zalmi & United ready to fight for PSL final glory

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), while the port city has been decorated to celebrate the return of international cricket after nine years.

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.

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.

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.

Sammy’s Zalmi have won four consecutive knockout games and is now ready to win one last one on Sunday to retain the title.

“At the start of tournament, I said we are here to defend our title. We know it was not going to be easy, but the journey has been a great one,” he said.

Sammy is confident that the love affair will continue when he will lead Zalmi in this year’s final but against a different team and a different venue.

He is hoping that Pashtuns, who have a sizeable population in Karachi, will support his team in big numbers in tonight’s final against Islamabad United. “I have been told they have a lot of Pashtuns here. So I want them to come out dressing the yellow shirts. In the end, cricket is the winner and I think it’s been over 10 years that they had any sort of major cricket here,” Sammy told reporters in the pre-match conference here at the National Stadium on Saturday.

“First of all, fans in Karachi should come and support us for good cricket. And hopefully both teams could put up a great show,” the former West Indies’ captain said.

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.

Our correspondent adds: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed his desire that next time, matches of the Pakistan Super League would be played at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad along with Karachi being the main venue in the province. He stated this while talking to journalists as he visited the National Stadium and other parts of the city late on Friday night to review the preparations and arrangements being made for the final match of the PSL’s 3rd edition in Karachi. “You people leave Karachi aside as you should now talk about the Niaz Stadium of Hyderabad. Next year matches of PSL will be played there.”