Three teams from Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 have already secured their places in the playoffs, leaving one final spot still to be claimed this weekend.
Peshawar Zalmi, Multan Sultans and Islamabad United have all confirmed their playoff qualification, with the fourth position still undecided between three teams.
Karachi Kings, defending champions Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen are each competing for that single remaining playoff berth in the final matches.
Points Table
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peshawar Zalmi | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 2.65 |
| 2 | Multan Sultans | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0.45 |
| 3 | Islamabad United | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 1.77 |
| 4 | Karachi Kings | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | -0.87 |
| 5 | Lahore Qalandars | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 8 | -0.56 |
| 6 | Hyderabad Kingsmen | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 8 | -1.04 |
| 7 | Quetta Gladiators | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | -0.41 |
| 8 | Rawalpindiz | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | -1.33 |
What Lahore Qalandars must do
The defending champions must first defeat Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing match to keep their playoff qualification hopes alive and in their own hands.
After defeating the unbeaten, they must then rely on Hyderabad Kingsmen either losing their final match tomorrow or not winning by a large enough margin.
Currently, the net run rate of newly-added franchise sits approximately 80 runs behind Lahore, meaning the exact threshold depends on today’s winning margin.
If the shaheen Shah Afridi-led side win by a bigger margin today, Hyderabad Kingsmen will need an even larger victory tomorrow to overtake them on net run rate.
What Karachi Kings must do
The path of the David warner-led Karachi Kings to the playoffs is the most difficult of the three, requiring results to go against both Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen.
Their clearest route requires both Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen to lose their respective final matches, leaving Karachi as the surviving qualifier.
Alternatively, Karachi Kings can still qualify if Lahore lose and Hyderabad win, but only if Hyderabad’s winning margin remains sufficiently small.
A large Hyderabad victory in that scenario would likely boost their net run rate enough to keep Karachi out of the playoffs.
