One of the most beautiful things that a human being can do is dream. And British music legend John Lennon perfectly illustrated that in his 70s hit 'Imagine' where he sang: "You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one."

Fans following the different teams in the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) had dreamt up their sides to get to the final and go and clinch it. In an ideal world that would be perfect wouldn't it?

But then reality doesn't always go hand in hand with the human's whims and fancies.

Pakistan's traditional cricket bastions Lahore Karachi and Peshawar all highly tipped to make it to the summit fell along the way.

After 23 fixtures spread across this month it all comes down to this one. And who would have thought this one up - the capital of Pakistan going up against perhaps the lesser-known cricketing region.

Islamabad United square off against the Quetta Gladiators in the title tilt at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday night.

With all due respect to the Lahore Qalandars the Karachi Kings and the very popular Peshawar Zalmi all the noise in the lead up to the competition was on these three teams. Being the cricketing strongholds it was quite rightly too.

In the meanwhile Islamabad United captained by Misbah-ul-Haq and the Quetta Gladiators led by Sarfraz Ahmed quietly flew under the radar.

But Lahore Karachi couldn't go the full distance and while Peshawar Zalmi who did really well through the tournament couldn't translate the two play-off opportunities that they had.

Islamabad United and the Quetta Gladiators worked their way to rightly contest what should be an interesting final.

When the teams twice during the League phase the Gladiators had won by eight wickets in Dubai and by seven wickets in Sharjah.

And though that points to the Gladiators being the favourites nothing much can be read into it. A lot of water has flown under the bridge and Islamabad United have probably peaked at the right time.

The contest will pit the likes of Misbah Brad Haddin Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Sami Samuel Badree Andre Russell as well as PSL's first centurion Sharjeel Khan against the Sarfraz Ahmed Kumar Sangakkara Kevin Pietersen Ahmed Shehzad Zulfiqar Babar and Mohammad Nawaz.

That throws up a tantalising prospect.

Interestingly both teams had got the tournament off to a start on February 4 and they will bring the curtains down. Here though the stakes are much higher.