Karachi Kings can qualify for the final of the third season of the Pakistan Super League – which will be played in Karachi on March 25 – by beating Islamabad United in Dubai on March 18.
The loser of the first qualifier will get another chance to reach the final by beating the winner of the playoff game between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.
Karachi beat Islamabad by seven wickets in Sharjah to seal their place in the qualifier on March 16, with United restricted to a total of 124 all out in the face of some excellent bowling Usman Khan and Mohammad Irfan.
Islamabad coach Dean Jones vowed that his team will bounce back in the qualifier game against Karachi.
"We have to remind them why we finished number one in the table," Jones told Gulf News.
"We have a terrific group of players with everyone enjoying each other. We've had more net practice than anyone and more pool sessions than other franchise. We have been unbelievably prepared. There is no stone unturned when we go into matches.
"I have been really impressed by the way we have gone about our work from the start getting players, particularly the young Pakistan players, to understand what their roles are to play with freedom and with the belief we have in them. We did not play well tonight against Karachi as we made a couple of changes to give a few guys a chance leading into Pakistan when we go there. Otherwise, it has been really good."
Kings head coach Mickey Arthur admitted that his team were under pressure to qualify for the final to be played in Karachi.
"To be honest there has been pressure right from the start of this competition because everybody wants Karachi in the final," Arthur said.
"We had to repeatedly tell them 'hang on guys' as we hadn't even played our first match then. We've got to take one step at a time and be realistic but Karachi reaching Karachi for the final would be incredible for the competition and incredible for our franchise, but we still got to play a couple of games to do it."
Where to watch Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings
The first qualifier will start at 9.30pm IST. The game will be broadcast live on DSport, while live streaming is available on Jio TV, Airtel TV and cricketgateway.com.
Squads
Karachi Kings: Imad Wasim (c), Shahid Afridi, Babar Azam, Joe Denly, Colin Ingram, Khurram Manzoor, Lendl Simmons, Saifullah Bangash, Eoin Morgan, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammed Taha, Tabish Khan, Ravi Bopara, Hasan Mohsin, David Wiese, Usama Mir, Tymal Mills, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan.
Islamabad United: Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Alex Hales, Sam Billings (wk), Mohammad Hasan, Chadwick Walton, Rohail Nazir, Luke Ronchi (wk), Amad Butt, Jean-Paul Duminy, Hussain Talat, Samit Patel, Andre Russell, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Samuel Badree, Steven Finn, Mohammad Sami, Rumman Raees, Zafar Gohar
