Sammy, Samuels to make late arrival in Lahore

LAHORE, Pakistan, CMC – Two-time Twenty20 World Cup-winning captain, Darren Sammy, along with West Indies teammate Marlon Samuels, were expected to arrive here late Saturday for Sunday’s controversial final of the Pakistan Super League.
Sammy’s Peshawar Zalmi clash with Quetta Gladiators in the championship final – the first time in eight years a high profile game will be staged in the volatile Pakistani city.
Sammy and Samuels, along with Barbados-born England all-rounder, Chris Jordan, have reportedly opted to turn out for Zalmi despite heightened security fears which have already led to the mass exodus of the Gladiators’ foreign players from the T20 final.
Englishmen Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright and Tymal Mills were all members of the Gladiators side which beat Zalmi in the first semi-final but have since returned home.
South African Rilee Roussouw and New Zealander Nathan McCullum have also opted out not to travel to Lahore for the game, further depleting the Gladiators unit for the final.
However, captain Sammy and all the Zalmi foreign players have travelled for the final, with Zalmi owner Javed Afridi confirming that all had been issued with travel visas and were expected to play.
Some media reports said foreign players had been offered up to US $50,000 in bonus payments to play in the final.
Sammy has been a key member of the Zalmi side throughout the tournament, leading them brilliantly and also contributing with the bat.
Samuels, meanwhile, has been short of form in his four outings but his unbeaten 37 in the last qualifier on Friday, helped Zalmi into the final.
The game, scheduled for the Gaddafi Stadium, is set to proceed despite two bomb blasts here last month which killed 23 people and left over 100 injured.
International cricket has not been played in Pakistan since the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by terrorist, resulting in the death of several of the security forces and injury to players.