Islamabad United left it late but they have finally been confirmed as the fourth and final playoff team to qualify and have joined Multan Sultans, Peshawar Zalmi, and Lahore Qalandars
Islamabad United left it late but they have finally been confirmed as the fourth and final playoff team to qualify and have joined Multan Sultans, Peshawar Zalmi, and Lahore Qalandars.
Mohammad Rizwan's Multan Sultans were the first team to have qualified while in second place is Lahore Qalandars, who under Shaheen Shah's leadership, look extremely fierce.
The third team to have qualified was Wahab Riaz's Peshawar Zalmi as they won three successive games after a rocky start.
Lastly, despite registering a win against Karachi Kings, the Gladiators did not manage a victory by a good enough margin which has all but confirmed United as the fourth franchise to qualify for playoffs.
The Islamabad United camp looked nervous after they suffered a 66-run defeat to Lahore Qalandars. With that, it gave Gladiators an opportunity to possibly sneak their way past United if they had beaten Karachi Kings with a better margin to have offset their net run rate, which was significantly lower than United's.
United's position was further strengthened after they didn't concede a total of 106 in more than 3.5 overs against Sultans tonight.
If Sultans had chased down the target in 3.5 overs, Gladiators would have been through to the final four but it was highly unlikely.
Meanwhile, Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi will face tomorrow in the final league game. Zalmi will have to win by 110 runs to finish in the top two otherwise Qalandars will face Sultans in Qualifier one on February 23 while Zalmi will lock horns against United on February 24.
Here's the updated points table:
We have our four teams for #HBLPSL7 playoffs
— Cricket Pakistan (@cricketpakcompk) February 20, 2022
Here's updated points table, Zalmi and Qalandars to play final league game tomorrow 👇 pic.twitter.com/b22dtNJQaw