Every News: HBL PSL-4 resumes in Karachi today

HBL PSL-4 resumes in Karachi today
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KARACHI: Defending champions Islamabad United face a tricky situation in their all-important match against Lahore Qalandars in Karachi on Saturday as the HBL Pakistan Super League returns to Pakistan after 26 matches in the United Arab Emirates.Islamabad – winners of the first edition in 2016 and then again in 2018 – are in an uncertain territory with eight points in nine games, and badly need a win to qualify for the play-offs for which Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi have already qualified.In the case of a loss, the fate of the title-holders will rest on the results of Lahore’s last game against Multan Sultans and the two matches Karachi Kings will play against Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators. Islamabad captain Mohammad Sami showed confidence his team can pull-off a win and qualify for the last stages. “I think this is the right time to peak,” said Sami on Friday as teams started practicing at the refurbished National Stadium in Karachi.“Maybe players have not done well in the last few matches, but everyone knows that now is the right time to peak and do well in the knock-out games. So, I hope the players will do well in these matches,” said Sami.Islamabad United were in a good position until they lost to Peshawar by four wickets, followed by their 43-run defeat against Quetta Gladiators. Both losses have pegged them back. But Islamabad can take heart from the fact that they were in a similar situation in 2016 before they won the last two matches, the Eliminator, then the second Qualifier before lifting the silverware.Lahore are once again in the danger zone, with just six points from their eight games, and have also lost their key batsman AB de Villiers. The South African maestro injured his back and had to abandon his plans to tour Pakistan for the last two round matches.A defeat will eliminate them from the league and a similar fate after they ended fifth and last in the first two editions and sixth and last in 2018 but their captain Fakhar Zaman hoped his team can lift the tempo.Schedule of upcoming matches: Saturday (March 9): Lahore Qalandars v Islamabad United (match starts 7pm PST)Sunday (March 10): Karachi Kings v Quetta Gladiators (match starts 7pm PST)Monday (March 11): Lahore Qalandars v Multan Sultans (match starts 2pm PST); Karachi Kings v Peshawar Zalmi (match starts 7pm PST)Wednesday (March 13): Qualifier (1 v 2) (match starts 7pm PST)Thursday (March 14): Eliminator 1 (3 v 4) (match starts 7pm PST)Friday (March 15): Eliminator 2 (match starts 7pm PST) Sunday (March 17): Final (match starts 7pm PST).Meanwhile cricket-mad Pakistan is welcoming a host of foreign stars who defied security fears and Indian-Pakistani tensions to feature in the last eight matches of its domestic Twenty20 League, starting in Karachi from Saturday.Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, current New Zealand opener Colin Munro and West Indian stars Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard — were to arrive in Karachi Friday night to join the six-team competition. Watson, who plays for Quetta Gladiators but declined to visit Pakistan for the PSL final and three play-off matches in 2017, said he consulted his family before taking the trip. The chief executive of the International Cricket Council David Richardson and Cricket Australia head of security Sean Carroll are among the foreign officials who are also set to visit.