Led by former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, the ABL team crushed the Karachi Blues in the semi-final by 115 runs on Wednesday. The PIA team outclassed the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) by eight wickets in the second pre-final on Thursday.
Both the teams are balanced and any side can win the final. However, the team which will bat first and would have scored an imposing total will be in a far better position to win the all-important match.
The PIA team which had struck a hattrick by winning the first three episodes of the competition (1980 to 1982) in the presence of seasoned batsmen like skipper Asif Mujtaba, Ghulam Ali, Zahid Fazal, Aamir Malik and Shoaib Muhammad looks strong in batting department. While pacemen Muhammad Zahid, Wasim Haider, Sohail Jafar, spinners, Nadeem Khan, Zahid Ahmad, Mahmood Hamid are holding the bowling section of the team.
Apart from Ramiz Raja, Manzoor Akhtar, Muhammad Nawaz, Ijaz Ahmad Junior and Wajahatullah are in good forms and quite capable of helping the ABL team to set a challenging total for the PIA side.
Trio of pacemen Aaqib Javed, Aamir Nazir and Ata-ur-Rahman, the latter who is also batting well in the tournament have the ability to upset any side. Arshad Khan with his confusing off-spin is a serious threat to the PIA team.
The winners will get a cash prize of Rs one lakh and the runnersup a cash award of Rs 50,000. The man of the match, the best batsman, the best bowler, the best wicketkeeper and the best fielder will be given a cash prize of Rs 5000 each.
The cricket spectators who gave a cold shoulder to both the semi-finals are expected to come back in the stadium to enjoy the weekend.
The first session of the final, to be held from 2.30 pm to 6.00 p.m, will be telecast live while the recording of the second session will be telecast on Sunday morning.
Javed Akhtar and Saleem Badar will supervise the final. Mian Muhammad Aslam has been appointed as TV umpire while Sultan Rana is the match-referee.
Heavy downpour on the night between Thursday and Friday lashed the city but it did not affect the venue due to fine drainage system of the Qadhafi Stadium. The MET office, however, forecast light rain in next 24 hours.
The two teams will be picked from the following players before the start of the match:
ABL: Captain Ramiz Raja, Muhammad Nawaz, Wajahatullah, Manzoor Akhter, Aaley Haider, Ata-ur-Rahman, Taimur Khan, Hamayoun Farhat, Aaqib Javed, Arshad Khan, Aamer Nazir, Aamer Hanif, Bilal Rana, Iqbal Saleem, Manzoor Akhtar, Masroor Husain.
PIA: Asif Mujtaba, Babar Zaman, Ghulam Ali, Javed Qadeer, Aamer Malik, Ali Gohar, Kamran Husain, Mahmood Hamid, Muhammad Zahid, Nadeem Fazal, Nadeem Khan, Shoaib Muhammad, Sohail Jafar, Wasim Haider, Zahid Ahmad, Zahid Fazal.