Karachi: Umaid Asif’s final over and Babar Azam splendid 78 helped Karachi Kings beating Peshawar Zalmi by ten runs in their first match of PSL season five.
Umaid only gave away six runs in the final over of the innings along with a splendid catch of Darren Sammy.
Zalmi couldn’t score in partnerships initially while chasing 202. Chris Jordan in his first over removed Tom Banton and Haider Ali in quick succession putting Zalmi on the back foot.
Akmal and Shoaib Malik added 35 for the third-wicket but young Arshad Iqbal in his follow-through scores a direct hit dismissing Malik for 16. Akmal tried to up the scoring rate but cunning Cameron Delport with his mix pace rattled him in his second over.
Liam Livingstone and Liam Dawson added 47 for the fifth wicket but Mohammad Amir broke the vital partnership dismissing Dawson as he nicked to wicket-keeper Rizwan in the 15th over.
Livingstone, the highest-scorer for Zalmi scoring 29-ball 54 which included three massive sixes and two fours. He was accompanied by Sammy which gave Zalmi a ray of hope as Sammy scored 18 runs of Amir’s final over. Sammy smashed 20-ball 30
Umaid Asif was the pick of the bowler for Kings, picking two for 23. Jordan claimed two for 39 in his quota of four overs. Arshad and Delport picked one wicket each.
Earlier sent into bat first, Kings scored 201-4 in 20 overs. Babar Azam (78) and Imad Wasim (50) were absolutely in charge as they both put Karachi Kings in commanding position.
The right-hand, left-hand duo partnered for the third wicket and scored 97 runs together to put Kings in driving seat. They shared 10 boundaries and five sixes in between them.
The home side got an aggressive start from explosive opener Sharjeel Khan who fell to Hasan Ali after hitting him for two sixes in a row.
Cameron Delport’s wicket in the ninth over put Kings’ under a little pressure but Imad and Babar dealt with the situation quite well. Delport scored 16-ball 20. Iftikhar Ahmed, in the end, struck two sixes on the last two balls to help Kings post the highest team total in PSL so far.
For Zalmi, Hasan Ali bagged two wickets for 52 runs while young leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin took a wicket. Babar was awarded player of the match for his highest PSL score with the bat.
