LAHORE - Peshawar Zalmi handed Karachi Kings sixth consecutive defeat to Karachi Kings as they trounced Kings by 55 runs in the 19th fixture of the Pakistan Super League 7 here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
This victory kept Peshawar Zalmi’s hopes of booking a play-off berth alive while the sixth defeat in a row has left Kings needing a miracle to reach the play-offs as they would not only need to win all of their remaining four matches, but also need other results to go in their favour. Peshawar Zalmi have now won three out of seven matches and remain in hunt for a play-off berth.
Put into bat first, Peshawar Zalmi posted a decent total of 193 runs in the allotted 20 overs for the loss of six wickets. Openers Hazratullah Zazai and Muhammad Haris provided Peshawar a flying start and shared a 97-run partnership in the first 10 overs. In his debut match in the PSL 7, Haris smashed 27-ball 49 with the help of 3 fours and 4 sixes. He was bowled by Mohammad Nabi.
Hazratullah Zazai hammered his half century off 41 balls that included 6 fours and 1 six. He was dismissed by Qasim Akram at his individual score of 52 runs. Liam Livingstone went to the pavilion after scoring paltry 6 runs. Shoaib Malik and Ben Cutting then struck 31 and 26 runs respectively.
Karachi Kings’ pacer Chris Jordan emerged as key bowler, who captured three wickets while Muhammad Nabi, Umaid Asif and Qasim Akram got one wicket each. It is pertinent to mention that Kings dropped at least six catches in the fixture, which was the key reason behind their defeat.
Chasing the massive target, Karachi lost their aggressive opener Sharjeel Khan for 14 at a total of 25 runs. Babar with Joe Clarke had a timely 55-run second-wicket partnership, but the required-run-rate continued to mount as Clarke was dismissed in 13.2 overs. Only Babar was leading run-scorer for Karachi as he cracked 59 runs off 46 balls, while no other batter managed to play a big knock. Wahab Riaz and Salman Irshad shared two wickets each.
Peshawar Zalmi’s Mohammad Haris, who was named player of the match, said: “I will give credit to my team management who offered me great support and encouragement and I played as they asked me to. My favourite wicketkeeper batters are Jos Butler and Mohammad Rizwan, we had realised that we were making some mistakes in power play overs and thank fully we made good use today. As a young player it can be challenging to make an impact in the HBL PSL so I would hope to make most of the opportunities that come my way.”
Sarfaraz leads Quetta
to 5-wicket win
over Islamabad
Captain Sarfaraz Ahmad helped Quetta Gladiators record a second successive 200-plus chase as they defeated Islamabad United by five wickets in a last over thriller at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (player of the match) took his side home with an unbeaten 50-run contribution. Gladiators have now won three out of their six matches just like United who also have six points from as many matches. United though occupy the third spot ahead of Gladiators fourth on the basis of a superior net run-rate.
21TH MATCH
Islamabad United
vs
Karachi Kings
At 7:30 pm
Scores in brief
PESHAWAR ZALMI 193 for 6, 20 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 52, Mohammad Haris 49, Shoaib Malik 31; Chris Jordan 3-41) beat KARACHI KINGS 138 for 6, 20 overs (Babar Azam 59, Joe Clarke 26; Wahab Riaz 2-26, Salman Irshad 2-24) by 55 runs.
