Eliminator 2: Zalmi, United set sights on playing HBL PSL 6 final

Peshawar Zalmi, the champions of the 2017 edition, will face Islamabad United in the ongoing HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six Eliminator 2 on Tuesday, in Abu Dhabi, with the winner taking on Multan Sultans in the final on Thursday.

Zalmi defeated Karachi Kings, the title defenders, by five wickets and one ball spare in Eliminator 1 on Monday.  

Two dropped catches of Sherfane Rutherford on the first and penultimate balls by Danish Aziz and Thisara Perera in pacer Mohammad Ilyas’ last over saw Peshawar Zalmi get seven runs and cross the line.

Meanwhile, three-fers from pacers Sohail Tanvir and Blessing Muzarabani and a quick-fire half-century from Sohaib Maqsood led Multan Sultans to their first-ever final of the event, after win over two-time champions Islamabad United.

Islamabad United were dismissed for 149 in 19 overs to hand Sultans 31-run win in the Qualifier.

Sultans, who made their first appearance in the HBL PSL playoffs last year but were knocked out after losing to Karachi Kings in the Qualifier and to Lahore Qalandars in the Eliminator, made sure they did not make any mistakes this time around.

In the round-robin stage, Zalmi won the first encounter against United by six wickets. In their second meeting, United, who posted the highest ever HBL PSL total, 247/2, defeated Zalmi by 15 runs in a high-scoring thriller.

Squads

Islamabad United – Shadab Khan (c), Ahmed Saifi Abdullah, Ali Khan, Akif Javed, Asif Ali, Brandon King, Colin Munro, Fawad Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Akhlaq, Musa Khan, Rohail Nazir, Umar Amin, Usman Khawaja, Zafar Gohar and Zeeshan Zameer

Peshawar Zalmi– Wahab Riaz (c), Abrar Ahmed, Amad Butt, Bismillah Khan, Haider Ali, Hazratullah Zazai, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Irfan Snr, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik, Umaid Asif and Waqar Salamkheil