KARACHI: Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators have had their highs and lows in the ongoing ninth edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League, but both franchises managed to make it to the playoffs.

While the Rilee Rossouw-led Gladiators ended their league stage on a low — on the end of a 79-run drubbing from Multan Sultans, Shadab Khan’s men at United stunned the same side in their last outing.

When the two teams take on each other in the first Eliminator here at the National Bank Stadium on Friday, it will be a matter of who blinks first.

The Gladiators and United have been able to meet only once this season, with the reverse fixture between them having been washed out, giving the Quetta outfit — which won the first match by three wickets — a psychological edge in the Eliminator.

They could take that game on the back of a resilient 34-run knock by Rossouw on what was a bowling-friendly surface in Lahore.

The South African hasn’t really fired otherwise in his first season as the Gladiators captain, failing to live up to his reputation as one of the most destructive batters in PSL history.

Rossouw recognises how his lack of form has affected the Gladiators.

“The bottom line is that I need to start scoring runs, if I score runs the team will do well,” he admitted after the defeat against Sultans on Tuesday.

“It’s not good for the team and I am letting the team down, and it’s something that I need to address.

“I’ve been in such situations before and I’m sure I’m going to find my way out and hopefully in the playoffs something happens.”

Rossouw’s role will be crucial for the Gladiators to end their four-year trophy drought, especially given that their other batters too haven’t been very reliable.

Other than sporadic shows of brilliance by Saud Shakeel — unleashed as an opener in his debut PSL season — the Gladiators have struggled to do well with the bat.

However, their spin-heavy attack in Akeal Hosein, Abrar Ahmed and Usman Tariq have demonstrated the ability to put opponents under pressure.

They will be crucial cogs in the battle against United, who will look up to late middle-order batter Azam Khan’s prowess against spin bowling.

A proven match-winner with a number of blistering knocks in his PSL career for United, Azam has threatened this season but hasn’t taken his team all the way on any occasion.

However, his captain Shadab has full trust in the burly wicket-keeper batter and knows how to bring the best out of him.

“Some players need more love than others and Azam is one of them,” Shadab told reporters here on Wednesday. “And Islamabad have given him that and will continue to.

“He has performed for us on numerous occasions. It’s not easy for him to stay consistent in the position he plays, but we always know he can win us a match anytime.”

Shadab himself will be under the scanner in the Eliminator, given that the leg-spinner has been far from his standing as a strike-bowler in the T20 format this season.

His struggles, that started months ago and were doubled up by injuries, have not ended so far.

“The issues in my bowling have been mostly technical and I’ve been working on that,” he said. “Things don’t change overnight and one has to trust the process, which is going very well for me.”

Shadab said he would have preferred to see United finish in the spots for the Qualifier while admitting that “small mistakes in such a big tournament” resulted in a third-place finish in the league stage.

While a few “lapses”, as Shadab said, make Islamabad’s start a shaky, the win against the Sultans to wrap up the first round, he believed, have boosted the side’s momentum.

“You need momentum in the T20 format and we’ve got that just at the right time,” he observed. “I’m sure it will come of good use for us.”

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2024