After some high-octane and quality contests in the second edition of the Pakistan Super League, the PSL 2017 final is just a few hours away. Two quality teams – Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi – will battle it out for the title on Sunday in Lahore.
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This final is going to be a different ball game altogether. With a number of foreign players of Quetta Gladiators including Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Roussow, Luke Wright, Tymal Mills and Nathan McCullum deciding not to travel to Pakistan for the PSL final due to security reasons, they were forced to make some major changes in the lineup.
As a result, Quetta Gladiators have brought in Anamul Haque, Morne van Wyk, Elton Chigumbura, Sean Ervine and Rayad Emrit as their replacements. The Gladiators are going to miss the services of players like Pietersen.
"KP, Luke, Rilee, Mills would have been great but we respect their decision. We are still confident of winning the PSL final despite missing the big stars. For our local players, playing at home is a huge opportunity. The experience of playing in front of the home crowd is massive, and all of them are excited about it," Gladiators said in a statement.
For Peshawar Zalmi, Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy and Chris Jordan have decided to play the final in Lahore, and they have reportedly reached Lahore early this morning.
Quetta Gladiators will be more than determined to win their maiden PSL title after losing in the final of the first edition while Peshawar Zalmi will be keen to make their first PSL final count. Both the teams have deservedly reached the finals of the Pakistan Super League 2017 as Peshawar and Quetta were the top two teams after the group stages concluded.
The final between the two teams is expected to be a close contest. After their last few head-to-head matches in the PSL, there is hardly anything to choose between the two teams, but with some new players for Quetta in the final, Peshawar will fancy their chances in the Pakistan Super League 2017 final.
Quetta needs their local players like Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Anwar Ali and Mohammad Nawaz to deliver in the final. With Peshwar still having the services of stars like Samuels, Sammy and Jordan, they will be upbeat about the final, and will hope to win the title.
However, in all these, it is cricket fans in Pakistan who will be eager to watch the final. Due to security concerns, not a single game has been played in Pakistan, and this title-decider will also mark Pakistan Super League's debut in the country.
Where to watch live
The Pakistan Super League 2017 final between Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators is scheduled for 8 pm local time (8.30 pm IST, 3 pm GMT) start. Here is the live streaming and TV option.
India: TV: No coverage.
Pakistan:TV: Ten Sports, PTV and Geo Super. Live streaming: PTV Sports Live.
UAE: TV: OSN Sports. Live streaming: OSN Play
UK: TV: Prime TV. Live streaming: Prime TV Online.
Bangladesh: TV: Gazi TV.
West Indies: TV: Flow TV.
