KARACHI: When Junaid reached the Arts Council Express Center, only tickets priced at Rs 12,000 for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final were available. It was 11 o’clock in the morning. Yet, people had already purchased comparatively cheaper tickets for the match. With no other option, he bought 15 tickets for the VIP lounge after consulting his colleagues on their cellphones.
“We all want to watch the match together,” he told Arab News on Thursday. “My friends and I are super excited! I’m a huge fan of cricket, but I’ve never watched a match in the stadium.”
As it turned out, Junaid was among the lucky ones. Many people had to go home empty-handed since they could not afford such expensive tickets. Shah Alam, who came down from the portside neighborhood of Keemari, could not buy a ticket despite waiting for an hour in a long queue.
“I only had Rs 4,000 in my pocket,” he said. “Even that’s a large sum of money for me, but I was still willing to spend it.”
Khurram, a TCS official at the Metropole express center, told Arab News that his office could only sell 200 tickets of Rs 1,000 and Rs 4,000. However, they sold out soon after the center opened at 9 o’clock. “There was already a long queue outside when we opened the office,” he told Arab News.
His colleagues displayed a message outside the center, saying: “PSL portal not working. PSL tickets are not available, all sold.”
Apart from the designated TCS centers selling tickets in the city, people also thronged other marketplaces in Karachi to buy t-shirts of their favorite cricket teams.
“We’ve kept t-shirts of all the cities,” Muhammad Mohsin, a garment shop owner, told Arab News. “Yet, most of our customers want Karachi Kings’ t-shirts. We’ve almost gone out of stock and have ordered more from our supplier.”
Ansar Alam, who came to the shop to buy t-shirts for his sons, was a bit disappointed since he could not get match tickets. “It’s a bit sad,” he said, “but we’ll watch the final on a big screen.”
With four league contests remaining in Sharjah, Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators are at the top of the point’s table. Lahore Qalandars are out of the tournament, while Karachi Kings, Multan Sultan and Peshawar Zalmi are striving to get into the qualifiers, eliminators and the final.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of cricket fans in this seaside metropolis are waiting for a thrilling contest in Karachi, hoping to see their city’s squad play on their home ground.
“It will be amazing if Karachi Kings make it to the final,” said Junaid. “But even if they don’t, we’ll still enjoy since these are all our own teams!”
Cricket fans hoping for a thrilling PSL final in Karachi
Cricket fans hoping for a thrilling PSL final in Karachi
Christensen and Rashford on target as Barcelona beat Guadalajara in Copa del Rey
- Guadalajara’s hopes were extinguished in the dying moments when Lamine Yamal played a sublime through-ball into the path of Rashford
GUADALAJARA, Spain: Late strikes from Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory for Barcelona against third-tier side Guadalajara on Tuesday, sending the Catalans through to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona labored for much of the match at the Pedro Escartin stadium, holding over 80 percent of possession but struggling to break down a disciplined five-man Guadalajara defense.
The home side posed a constant threat on the counter-attack and frustrated the European heavyweights for long stretches.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick introduced regular starters Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Jules Kounde, and Pedri from the bench in the second half, seeking a breakthrough.
The changes finally paid dividends in the 77th minute when Frenkie de Jong whipped in a cross from the right and defender Christensen rose highest to meet the delivery, with his header deflecting off Guadalajara’s Julio Martinez before nestling in the net.
The hosts nearly produced an immediate response, with Salifo Caropitche unleashing a fierce drive from distance, but Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen — who was playing his first game for Barca since May — reacted superbly to tip the effort over the bar, preserving his side’s slender lead.
Guadalajara’s hopes were extinguished in the dying moments when Lamine Yamal played a sublime through-ball into the path of Rashford.
The English forward showed great composure, wrong-footing keeper Dani Vicente with a quick cut to his left before tapping the ball into the empty net to wrap up the result for Barcelona.
“These are tricky matches; they come out with everything they’ve got and we have to do the same,” Cubarsi told TVE.
“In the second half, we picked up the pace and moved them from side to side to tire them out. As the minutes passed, they grew tired, and that was the key point. They played spectacularly well.”
