PSL 5: It’s The Time for Play-Offs!

 WEB DESK:  Move aside Covid-19, Cricket’s biggest extravaganza in Pakistan is back as the stage is all set for the final four matches of the Pakistan Super League, Season 5.

Defending champions Quetta Gladiators and two-time champions Islamabad United are already out of the race, it’s the ideal time for former champions Peshawar Zalmi to equal Islamabad United’s record of winning PSL twice. However, it would be difficult considering the remaining three teams in the play-offs would also be aiming for their maiden PSL triumph.

The event will resume with two matches today at the National Stadium Karachi; in the first match dubbed as a Qualifier, Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings will battle for a place in the final.

The winner of the match would automatically reach the grand finale of the event to be played on Tuesday, while the loser will get another chance to make it right.They will have to face the winner of the second match to be played today – Eliminator 1 – in which the winner will stay and the loser will be eliminated, hence the name.

The winner of this match and the loser of the earlier one will then battle it out for a place in the grand finale, which will be held on Tuesday, 17th November in Karachi.

With the best team already in the final, it will be a great match for both the players and the audience watching the match at home, because no one is allowed to watch the match at the stadium due to Covid-19!

Coming back to the tournament, it has been a rollercoaster ride for the teams that have managed to qualify for the play-offs.Thanks to their brilliant captains, and their star batsmen and bowlers, PSL 5 can qualify as one of the most competitive T20 tournaments around the globe. And in this competitive environment, the most runs have so far been scored by Babar Azam this year.

The Pakistani Skipper may not be the Captain of his side Karachi Kings (the honor goes to Imad Wasim), but he is the most valuable player in the squad. He managed to score as many as 345 runs in his 10 matches, and although he hasn’t featured in the Centurion club, his runs have helped his side win matches and reach this far.

Lahore Qalandars’ Chris Lynn is the second-highest run-scorer of PSL 5 with 284 runs to his name that includes a massive 113 not out, the highest score of the event in 2020.

English batsman ben Dunk is at number three with 266 runs that include a fighting knock of 99 not out.Captain of Multan Sultans and Pakistan’s Test opening batsman Shan Masood comes at number with his 253 runs whereas former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal’s 251 runs make him the fifth-highest run-scorer of this year’s PSL. Along with Chris Lynn, Rilee Rossouw, Kamran Akmal is the only batsman to have crossed the three-figure mark this year and make it count as well.

Moving onto the bowlers and the one name that sticks in everyone’s mind is that of Shaheen Shah Afridi.

The youngster who has been in terrific form this year will prove to be the key to Lahore Qalandar’s planning; the kind of form he is in will be worrisome for the opposition, whoever it might be.

Let’s see how many wickets he adds to his tally of 13 in 9 matches, which is so far the best in the tournament.With 11 wickets in 9 matches, Peshawar Zalmi’s Captain Wahab Riaz comes at the second position while the third is shared by Multan Sultan’s dynamic duo of Sohail Tanvir and Imran Tahir who have taken 10 wickets each in as many as 8 matches.

Pakistan’s discarded pacer Mohammad Amir is also amongst the top five wicket-takers of PSL 5 with 10 wickets in 9 matches and he will be fuming while bowling so that he can prove his fitness and his willingness to represent Pakistan in the international arena.

One must mention the replacement players here who arrived in Pakistan to represent their teams in the play-offs, in the absence of their international colleagues.

Multan Sultans would be strengthened by the inclusion of Zimbabwe’s Brendan Taylor and England’s Joe Denly, hard-hitting batsman Sohaib Maqsood will represent Peshawar Zalmi alongside the world-class Faf du Plessis.

Then, there is Wayne Parnell who will play for Karachi as a foreign player and strengthen his side’s chances of reaching the grand finale, which is being played ‘at home’ for them.In the end, one must commend Pakistan Cricket Board’s dedication for organizing the Pakistan Super League’s fifth edition in Pakistan, at a time when Covid-19 made BCCI look for other avenues to arrange their Indian Premier League. May the best team win!

The following are the final squads of the four teams participating in the remaining matches of the event

Karachi Kings
Emad Wasim (captain), Amir Yameen, Alex Hales (England), Arshad Iqbal, Owais Zia, Babar Azam, Cameron Delport (South Africa), Chadwick Walton (West Indies), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Sharjeel Khan , Rutherford (West Indies), Ameed Asif, Umar Khan, Osama Mir, Waqas Maqsood and Wayne Parnell (South Africa).

Lahore Qalandars
Sohail Akhtar (captain), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Fakhr Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, David Visay (South Africa), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Shinwari, Samat Patel (England), Haris Rauf, Agha Salman, Ben Dunk (Australia) , Farzan Raja, Jahid Ali, Abid Ali, Muhammad Faizan, Moaz Khan, Dan Villas (South Africa) and Dilbar Hussain.

Multan Sultans
Shaun Masood (captain), Adam Laith (England), Ali Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Brendon Taylor (Zimbabwe), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Joey Danley (England), Junaid Khan, Khushdal Shah, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Ravi Bopara (England), Riley Russo (South Africa), Rohail Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer, Usman Qadir and Zeeshan Ashraf.

Peshawar Zalmai
Wahab Riaz (captain), Amir Ali, Adil Amin, Carlos Birthweight (West Indies), Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Haider Ali, Hardy’s Well-Being (South Africa), Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Imran, Muhammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin and Yasir Shah.