DUBAI March 3: The enthralling UAE leg of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2017 comes to an end tonight with the third and final Play-off between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The two mercurial teams have played some of the most exhilarating cricket in the tournament and are now one game away from joining Quetta Gladiators in the final set to be played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
The game tonight is a virtual semi-final with the winning team proceeding to Lahore for the event’s showpiece encounter.
Zalmi comfortably won the opening game of the 2017 season between the two teams in Dubai before Kings roared back with a thrilling win at Sharjah sneaking with a win despite a heroic assault by Shahid Afridi during the Zalmi chase.
Kings have made it to the Third Play-off for the first time in HBL PSL history after defeating defending champions Islamabad United in a low scoring Second Play-off played on Wednesday.
Zalmi on the other hand suffered a gut-wrenching one run defeat at the hands of the Gladiators in a high scoring thriller which kept the spectators on the edge of their seats.
A full house is expected to watch the clash between two hugely popular sides, Zalmi fan base in particular would be hoping for another Shahid Afridi special who has so far scored his 177 runs in the tournament at an astonishing strike rate of 175.24
Kings on the other hand would be banking on their bowlers to stifle the Zalmi batting like the United encounter besides banking on the tournament’s leading run getter Babar Azam who has scored his 290 runs at an average of 36.25.