F.P. Report
KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi convincingly defeated Karachi Kings in their backyard by 61 runs defending 204 runs in the last match of the Pakistan Super League’s group stage played at the National Stadium Karachi.
Imad Wasim won the toss and elected to bat first. Peshawar Zalmi welcomed the decision as the two openers, Imam Ul Haq and Kamran Akmal went all guns blazing since the word go.
The opening pair contributed 137 runs in 13.2 overs before Akmal got out at a score of 86 runs off 48 deliveries, he struck ten 4’s and five 6’s. Kieron Pollard only survived three deliveries, where he hit two sixes and lost his wicket on the third one. It was the only over bowled by Colin Munro in the match, where he took two big wickets for 14 runs.
At that stage, it looked like Zalmi will at least get around 220 to 230, but Karachi Kings’ bowlers fought back and did not let any man in yellow score freely.
The Kings were able to pull the things back in the death overs, dismissing Liam Dawson, Darren Sammy, Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali for 9, 5, 11 and 1 to restrict Peshawar Zalmi to 203 runs for seven wickets.
Mohammad Amir remained the pick of the bowler with three wickets for 24 runs, while Colin Munro and Usman Shinwari took two and one wickets respectively.
When Karachi Kings came out to chase, they were unlucky as they lost their Kiwi opener, Colin Munro to Hasan Ali who trapped him in front of the stumps, but a replay showed that the ball was missing the stumps. However, unfortunately, Babar Azam did not advise his partner to take a review and he had to walk back.
Babar Azam and Liam Livingstone also could not do much with the bat in the match as they fell after contributing 6 and 13 runs respectively. The lone warrior for Karachi Kings was once again Colin Ingram, who played another blockbuster inning of 71 runs off 37 deliveries.
Other than that, Ben Dunk, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Amir and Umer Khan flopped with 6, 4, 1, 0, 0 and 0 in the inning. The skipper, Imad Wasim tried to show some resistance as he chipped in 30 runs on 25 balls, which was too little and too late for the cause of Karachi Kings. It restricted the home team to 142 runs in 16.2 overs.
Hasan Ali once again shined with the ball for Peshawar Zalmi with three wickets to his name. While, Sameen Gul, Tymal Mills and Wahab Riaz picked two wickets each.
Peshawar Zalmi topped the points table with the impressive win, while Karachi Kings maintained their fourth position. Zalmi will take on Quetta Gladiators in the Qualifier on Wednesday, whereas Karachi Kings will face Islamabad United in the first eliminator on Thursday.
