KARACHI - Peshawar Zalmi players arrived in Karachi on Thursday night amid tight security for the final of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2018. While the Islamabad United players reached for the final on Friday’s night. Zalmi made its way to the finals after beating the Quetta Gladiators in a nail-biting thriller knockout game on March 20 and then eliminating Karachi Kings the next day.
Skipper Darren Sammy along with Andre Fetcher, Chris Jordan, Liam Dawson and others were flown in to the metropolis from Lahore, where they had played the second eliminator against Karachi Kings on Wednesday.
Sammy requested the people of Karachi to express their support to his team by wearing the team's colour - yellow - on the day of the match.
“My message is that I want to see this colour in the stadium," Sammy said as he pointed towards the yellow colour. "All Zalmi, all Zalmi in the stadium."
The Zalmi captain praised the team spirit in his team and expressed the hope that the team would defend its title. "We will defend the title...we want to win in Karachi," Sammy told the journalists. The team's owner Javed Afridi, while talking to the media upon his arrival in the metropolis, said that the PSL journey for Zalmi had been 'amazing'.
"Darren's leadership is very important for us; the team has won the hearts of Pakistanis. I don’t have words on how Lahore supported us and all credit goes to Sammy for it," Afridi said. Ibitisam Sheikh, Taimur Sultan, Umaid Asif and Khalid Usman used the next the next flight to reach Karachi.
Earlier, the players shared pictures on social media ahead of their departure.
Peshawar Zalmi will play against Islamabad United in the final at the National Stadium in Karachi on Sunday, March 25. Meanwhile, cricketers from Islamabad United, including foreign inductees, arrived Karachi to play the final.
Islamabad, the winner of the inaugural edition of PSL, defeated Karachi Kings in the qualifier in Dubai to earn a direct flight to the final in Karachi, which will be played on Sunday.
“We are arriving tonight to Karachi, our foreign players are also coming with the squad for the match,” said an official of Islamabad United. United’s foreign players who have agreed to visit Pakistan include South African JP Duminy, England’s Samit Patel, West Indian Chadwick Walton, New Zealander Luke Ronchi and Ashes winner Englishman Steven Finn.
Sam Billings is unable to visit Pakistan after he couldn’t get NOC to travel from his county team Kent. Alex Hales has also decided against travelling to Pakistan. Former Australian cricketer and United coach Dean Jones will also arrive in Pakistan with the team. Three Pakistan-based players of United Misbah-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Sami are already in Pakistan and will join the rest of the squad directly in Karachi.
The team will arrive in Pakistan at around 12:35am tonight and will be taken to the hotel with the security protocols set for the players. The final of the third edition of PSL will be played between the champions of first edition Islamabad United and the winner of second edition Peshawar Zalmi in Karachi on Sunday.