(MENAFN- Gulf Times) History will be made in Dubai tomorrow when the inaugural Pakistan Super League reaches its climax with the Quetta Gladiators taking on Islamabad United in what is expected to be an emotionally-charged final.
By the time either Misbah-ul-Haq or Sarfraz Ahmed lifts the winners' trophy, the doubters would have been silenced for good.
Based on the evidence of the inaugural edition, the tournament is right up there with the best Twenty20 leagues around the cricket-playing world in terms of the skills on show as well as the heart-stopping moments it provided to the fans.
Last night at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Islamabad earned the right to take on Quetta in the title match thanks to the tournament's first century scored by Sharjeel Khan followed by a splendid bowling effort, especially by slow left-arm bowler Imran Khalid.
Khan scored 117 runs off 62 balls and Khalid claimed four wickets for 20 runs in three overs to scuttle the Peshawar Zalmi challenge in the 'third qualifying final', in essence the semi-final of the tournament.
Faced with the daunting task of scoring 177 runs for a spot in the final, Peshawar hit the skids early and were bowled out for 126 in 18 overs, giving Islamabad a comprehensive 50-run victory.
Peshawar were rarely in the hunt.
They were five down for 80 with 13 overs gone, with Khalid claiming four of them after West Indian spinner Samuel Badree had removed the dangerous Dawid Malan for 7 in the fourth over.
Pakistan discard Kamran Akmal had briefly raised Peshawar's hopes with 45 in 32 balls, but after he was stumped by Brad Haddin off Khalid, it was a procession of sorts with Brad Hodge (5), Darren Sammy (9) and Shahid Yousuf (4) departing in quick succession.
Peshawar had a mountain to climb with 77 runs required off the final five overs and the stage was set for Afridi to come up with a signature innings.
But even he knew in his heart of hearts it was beyond him, and faced with such a situation the Pakistan superstar did
what he does best-go out with all guns blazing.
His was the ninth Peshawar wicket to fall, after making 38 off just 17 balls with two fours and four sixes, holing out to Dwayne Smith off Andre Russsel at deep midwicket.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first by Afridi, Islamabad were off to a rollicking start with Khan going after the bowling to rack up 117 runs off 62 balls with the aid of 12 fours and eight sixes.
The left-hander, who has played 11 ODIs for Pakistan, was harsh on all the Peshawar bowlers, especially Shaun Tait and Afridi, reminding the Pakistani selectors what the national team would be missing after he was left out of the team for the ICC World T20 in India.
In fact, even before he had reached his half-century last night, people on social media had started expressing the hope that he could still be roped into the team on some pretext or the other.
Khan reached his century from 50 balls with a straight six off Afridi but could only manage 17 more runs off the next 12 balls he faced before eventually running himself out in a bid to retain the strike with two deliveries remaining in the innings.
Eventually, Islamabad's score was still some 20 runs short of what a team would have expected after one of their openers had blazed away to a century.
That was mainly due to the inability of Khan's opening partner Dwayne Smith to match his partner's scoring rate and some tight bowling towards the final straight of the innings where, with seven wickets standing, only 46 runs were scored in the last five overs.
But with the Peshawar batting failing to click, those runs were more than enough for Islamabad to defend and earn a well-deserved spot in the final.
Brief scores
Islamabad United 176-3 in 20 overs [Sharjeel Khan 117 (62b, 4x12, 6x8), Khalid Latif 28 not out (21b, 4x3), D Smith 19 (37b); S Tait 2/35] beat Peshawar Zalmi 126 all out in 18 overs [Kamran Akmal 45 (32b, 4x5, 6x2), Shahid Afridi 38 (17b, 4x2, 6x4); Imran Khalid 4/20, A Russell 3/37] by 50 runs.
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