LAHORE: Multan Sultans heavy win against Quetta Gladiators has confirmed Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi’s qualification in the play-off stage of Pakistan Super League.
Sultans were the first team to qualify for the play offs.
This leaves Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators eyeing the fourth spot.
Though United look in a very strong position to be the fourth team in the play offs and Gladiators are below them in the points table, the Sarfaraz Ahmed-led team can mathematically still not be declared out of the tournament.
Gladiators have six points from nine games while United have earned eight points from eight games.
Quetta next play against bottom-placed Karachi Kings on Sunday afternoon — its last league match. And to keep that match relevant, Gladiators will want Lahore Qalandars to beat Islamabad United on Saturday evening.
If Islamabad win against Qalandars on Saturday night, then Quetta’s all hopes will be dashed.
If Qalandar beats United and Gladiators manage to beat Kings then the fourth team will be known after Multan Sultans vs Islamabad United game on Sunday night.
If all goes in Quetta’s favour — Qalandars beat United, Gladiators beat Kings and Sultans beat United – then Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators will tie with eight points and net run rate will come into play.
Quetta’s current NRR is not in its favour, the 117 runs defeat against Multan has hurt their NRR and brought it down to -0.917 compared to Islamabad’s NRR of +0.536.
So, it is not an easy sail for Gladiators – they not only need to beat Kings by the heaviest possible margin but also hope for similar victories for Qalandars and Sultans against United.
For Sarfaraz, it is not over until it is over. For Shadab, it is just a matter of one simple win.