KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and all six franchises have agreed to continue the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 8 as per schedule.
After the attack on the Karachi police chief's office on Friday evening, doubts were raised on the future of scheduled PSL 8 matches in the metropolis.
However, an emergency meeting was called by the PCB which was attended by franchise representatives. In the meeting, PCB, in consultation with security agencies and the provincial government, took franchises in confidence.
As a result, they all agreed to continue with the ongoing edition of PSL as per schedule in Karachi.
According to the schedule, Karachi Kings will take on Quetta Gladiators at National Bank Cricket Arena today at 7pm. Peshawar Zalmi's squad will also arrive in the city early today as per schedule.
Karachi will host back-to-back matches on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The last match in the city will take place on February 26.
It must be noted here that when the attack took place, Quetta and Lahore Qalandars were practising in the city's stadium. Both the teams stayed inside the stadium until security clearance.
On Friday, Multan hosted fifth PSL 8 contest between Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi.
Rilee Rossouw and Usama Mir led Sultans to second consecutive victory in this season. The left-handed batter scored swashbuckling 75 runs against to help Sultans score 210-3 in 20 overs.
Later on, Usama did his job with the ball. He bagged three quick wickets in the middle overs to bring back his team in the game. He removed in-form Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Saim Ayub within no time.
Young Saim was leading the charge after Zalmi were set to chase 211 runs. Usama came in and did massive destruction. Usama went on to hit perfect lengths and picked up quick wickets to put Zalmi on the back foot.