KARACHI – Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday postponed Pakistan Super League (PSL) for indefinite period amid Coronavirus fear in the country.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT#HBLPSLV postponed, to be rescheduled. More details to follow in due course.
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 17, 2020
The announcement comes hours before the semi-finals of the 5th edition were to be played in Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium today.
In the first semi-final, Multan Sultans were set to face Peshawar Zalmi at 1400 hours, Pakistan Standard Time (PST).
Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars had played the second semi-final, while the finale was to be played on March 18 (Wednesday).
The country Monday recorded its biggest single-day spike in coronavirus infections, taking the tally to 183, amid reports of ineffective quarantine procedures as dozens of those are reported to be among those who had been held at a quarantine camp at the country’s Taftan border crossing with Iran.
According to the Sindh Health department, a total of 119 people from Taftan have tested positive for the virus in Sukkur, where they have been quarantined, while there are 27 cases in Karachi and one in Hyderabad.
Fifteen new cases have also been reported by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, all of whom were pilgrims who had returned to Pakistan via Taftan.
Ten cases have been reported by Balochistan, four by Islamabad, three by Gilgit Baltistan and one by Punjab.
On Sunday, first case of coronavirus was reported in Lahore. The patient, which has been quarantined at Mayo Hospital, returned from Britain a couple of days ago. The relatives of the patient are also being screened.