Friday’s Pakistan Super League clash between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi saw team Zalmi come out on top by nine runs after a riveting encounter at the National Stadium in Karachi. Kings were handed a painful defeat, finishing with 164/6 in response to Zalmi’s 173/4.
Opting to bowl after winning the toss, the Kings conceded a score in excess of 170, which could have been more if not for their experienced spin duo Imad Wasim (0/30) and Mohammad Nabi (0/15) pulling things back. But the rest of the attack simply failed to maintain that kind of leash on the opposition, including even Umaid Asif with his three-fer (3/36).
Zalmi got off to a good start with the bat, thanks to Afghanistan left-hander Hazratullah Zazai’s quickfire 41 off 27 balls at the top. They then suffered a few middle-order stutters, but once again, the experience of captain Shoaib Malik came to their rescue. The Pakistan international struck an unbeaten 52 off 28 balls, an outstanding knock that allowed Zalmi to cross the 170-mark when things could easily have been worse.
Given the situation in which the innings came, Malik was later also honoured with the ‘Player of the Match’ award. He defeated Kings’ skipper Babar Azam to the prize. Babar was his team’s lone-ranger with the bat in the second half, making a 63-ball unbeaten 90 in the run-chase.
But lack of proper support at the other end – the next highest individual score was 31 off 19 from Ian Cockbain – meant that Kings failed to make it through to the winning post. This, despite them scoring 19 runs off the final over when Babar dispatched the ball for a couple of fours and a six against Hussain Talat.
Zalmi had one stand-out performer with the ball in Mohammad Umar (3/22), who made it necessary for Kings to take extra risks against the rest of the bowling attack. While that didn’t result in too many wickets, Umar’s spell meant Kings were always behind the eight ball.
Brief scores
Peshawar Zalmi 173/4 in 20 overs (Malik 52*, Zazai 41; Asif 3/36) beat Karachi Kings 164/6 in 20 overs (Azam 90*, Cockbain 31; Umar 3/22) by 9 runs
