For most of the night, dark clouds hung low over the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, threatening to explode into torrential rain at any moment. Thunder rolled across the skies and the accompanying lightning caused some concern. But this was cricket, not golf, and the game had to go on.
Eventually, it did rain though, but that came in the form of sixes and fours from the seasoned bat of Australian Brad Hodge.
The right-hander, whose calculated assaults on bowlers in Twenty20 matches is the stuff of legend, did the Lahore Qalandars a huge favour by blasting an unbeaten 85 off 45 balls to help Peshawar Zalmi overcome a poor start and beat the Karachi Kings by five wickets.
Unfortunately for the Qatar-owned Qalandars, they were not able to capitalize on the opportunity as they crashed to a five-wicket loss to Islamabad United and missed the ticket to the playoffs.
The math was simple: for Lahore to qualify, Karachi had to lose and they had to win. However, both lost yesterday and Karachi took the fourth and final playoff spot because they had beaten the Qalandars in both their league games.
The Qalandars, who were asked to bat first by Islamabad captain Misbah-ul-Haq, made the worst possible start with pacers Mohamed Irfan and Azar Mahmood removing openers Azhar Ali and Cameron Delport for one each.
They were soon 3 down for six runs after Mohamed Rizwan was claimed in the third over by the giant left-arm speedster Irfan for nought.
If Lahore reached 150 for 5 in the end, it was largely due to Umar Akmal who slammed a crackerjack 72 not out off 49 balls and his 97-run stand for the fourth wicket with Shoaib Maqsood who hit 57 off 44 balls with five fours and two sixes.
Lahore were keen to stay in the hunt and built their score without taking unnecessary risks—indeed they didn’t have many options because they had lost three of their top batsmen with just six runs on the board.
In five overs yesterday, Lahore could only manage 38 for 3. Contrast this with their score against Peshawar on Tuesday when Chris Gayle gave them a blazing start helping them to 75 in as many overs, and the contrast is obvious.
Gayle, however, didn’t play against Islamabad yesterday because of his chronic back problem and the fact that he didn’t want to strain it especially with the Twenty20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League round the corner.
Whether that had an impact on the Qalandars’ fortunes is something that can be debated but the fact remained that the Qatar-owned outfit were unlucky throughout the event, being unable to stamp their authority in crucial situations.
Islamabad, who had already qualified for the playoffs along with Quetta and Peshawar, aced the run chase with Brad Haddin hitting a brilliant 54 off 42 deliveries with five fours and two sixes and skipper Misbah remaining not out on 38 off 19 balls with six fours, three of which came off consecutive balls in the 15th over bowled by Zia-ul-Haq.
That onslaught came in handy because that helped Islamabad over the line as the match was poised somewhat delicately at that point of time with the Lahore bowlers threatening to gain control.
Earlier, in the first match of the day, Karachi made 152 for 7 aided by Lendl Simmons’ 49, but Hodge’s blitz saw them over the line in 18.3 overs. Had it not been for the 41-year-old Hodge’s effort, Karachi would have easily throttled Peshawar on a slow pitch where batting was difficult.
Hodge came in at a time when Karachi, after posting a barely competent 152, had the already-qualified Peshawar in all sorts of trouble at 25 for 2 in 4.4 overs with openers Mohamed Hafeez (4) and Dawid Malan (8) back in the pavilion.
Peshawar looked like succumbing to the pressure when they lost Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal also in quick succession and although Jim Allenby gave the Peshawar innings some impetus by scoring 31 off 29 balls coming in at number three, the required run rate had climbed to over 10 an over.
But as is his style, Hodge took time to settle down. The Australian, whose exploits in the Indian Premier League and other Twenty20 tournaments from similar situations have made him a dreaded batsman in this format, turned the tide decisively in Peshawar’s favour in the 16th over bowled by Usama Mir when he hit three consecutive sixes.  
Karachi star Ravi Bopara, who had taken six wickets against Lahore earlier in the tournament, was brought in as a bowler by skipper Shoaib Malik only in the 18th over, something that mystified the bowler.
“I was fit. I don’t know, I can’t explain,” said Bopara of Malik’s decision not to introduce him earlier.
Clearly distraught after the loss, he even said Karachi did not deserve to go through to the playoffs.
“Not happy with it. We have played poorly. I don’t think we deserve to go through to the playoff with the way we have played, if I’m being brutally honest,” said Bopara.
That said, even Bopara would be relishing the opportunity of figuring in the playoffs, thanks to Lahore’s loss four hours later.

Brief scores
Karachi Kings 152/7 in 20 overs [L Simmons 49 (37b, 4x6, 6x2), R Bopara 23 (22b, 4x2] lost to Peshawar Zalmi 158/5 in 18.3 overs [J Allenby 31 (29b, 4x4), B Hodge 85 not out (45b, 4x6, 6x6; Bilawal Bhatti 2/36] by five wickets
Lahore Qalandars 150/5 in 20 overs [Sohaib Maqsood 57 (44b, 4x5, 6x2), Umar Akmal 72 not out (49b, 4x5, 6x3); Mohamed Irfan 3/22] lost to Islamabad United 151/5 in 19 overs [B Haddin 54 (42b, 4x5, 6x2), Khalid Latif 25 (24b, 4x2), Misbah-ul-Haq 38 not out (19b, 4x7); Zia-ul-Haq 2/38] by five wickets
Playoff schedule
February 19: First qualifying final:
Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators
February 20: Second qualifying final:
Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings
February 21: Third qualifying final
(Playoff two winner vs playoff one loser)
February 24: Final