PSL: Islamabad knockout Lahore, ensure berth for Karachi

Azhar Ali and Chris Gayle opened the innings for Lahore, Ali made 25 off 26 balls with three fours and Gayle was out on the first bowl.

The match is scheduled to commence at 09:00 pm according to Pakistan Standard Time (PST). While Gladiators won the first match, Zalmi walked away with the honours in their last meeting. Lahore now will have to beat Islamabad today in their last match and hope Karachi lose their match against Peshawar to have any hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.

For most of the night, dark clouds hung low over the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, threatening to explode into torrential rain at any moment. Except for one boundary that took a thick edge and went to backward square-leg, his other two fours and six sixes were all hit in the batsman’s v-zone. Their win meant that Karachi also qualified for the playoffs along with them, Quetta and table toppers Peshawar. For UK viewers, the first qualifying final of Pakistan Super League will get the broadcast on Prime TV while live streaming on Prime TV Online. Quetta Gladiators was able to make 129-10 in 18 overs, Grant Elliott made 40 off 29 balls with two fours and three sixes and was the pick of the batsmen.

They were soon 3 down for six runs after Mohamed Rizwan was claimed in the third over by the giant left-arm speedster Irfan for nought.

Zalmi Captain Afridi placed fifth in the league with nine wickets in eight matches.

While batting first, Lahore Qalandars scored 150 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Sarfraz Ahmed had insisted that the management were looking to test out different players in their final two games, having already sealed a top-2 finish.

Quetta Gladiators: Bismillah Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain/wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Grant Elliott, Nathan McCullum, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar and Aizaz Cheema. To watch the live stream on mobile devices, download the Cricket Gateway app.