The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Wednesday that the Pakistan Super (PSL) season eight Qualifier between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans will go ahead as scheduled at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore today.
Earlier, amid a tense situation in Lahore's Zaman Park over former Prime Minister Imran Khan's arrest, there was uncertainty around the today’s crucial match.
"The PSL8 Qualifier in Lahore today will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium as scheduled," tweeted the cricket's governing body in Pakistan.
The situation in Lahore is tense as a stand-off is ongoing between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and police over the arrest of Imran Khan. The police have been trying to arrest the PTI chief since yesterday as per court orders.
The Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans are scheduled to play the playoff match today at 7pm.
Both teams had to cancel their practice session on Tuesday due to the unrest in the city.
The exhilarating league-stage matches of the PSL concluded in style as Lahore Qalandars, Multan Sultans, Peshawar Zalmi, and Islamabad United moved to the playoffs phase of the tournament.
The defending champions Lahore Qalandars and runners-up of PSL 2022 Multan Sultans will face each other in the qualifier match.
“I am delighted with the consistency my team has shown in this edition. This team’s foundation is laid on the values of brotherhood and the way everyone backs and supports each other in the field is just a reflection of that,” Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi said before the match.
“We are very thankful to our fans on their continuous support. We have seen houseful matches in Home of Qalandars where the crowd turns out in large numbers to support us. We cannot wait to repay their faith with another title,” he added.
While the winning side will qualify for the final, the losing side will play the second eliminator against the winning side of the first eliminator.
Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi will meet in the first eliminator on Thursday and the team that loses will get knocked out of the event. The winner will face the loser of the qualifier on Friday.