KARACHI: Karachi Kings held their nerve to defeat Peshawar Zalmi by two wickets in a last-over thriller of the Pakistan Super League (PSL X) at National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Monday.
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi posted a 148-run fighting target, with Babar Azam and Mohammad Haris leading the inning with the bat and late boundaries from Alzari Joseph.
Chasing a modest target, the home side knocked the winning runs on the third delivery of the final over, taking the close contest into their side.
At the start of the inning, Kings’ opening batter Tim Seifert fell for a golden duck on the first delivery of the innings by Luke Wood. The Kings suffered another blow as Wood struck again in his next over to dismiss James Vince.
Skipper Warner remained the top-scorer for the Kings with a 47-ball 60, laced with eight fours.
Other batters, including Saad Baig (9), Muhammad Irfan Khan (10), and Mohammad Nabi (14) contributed minor to win the game.
Following Warner’s dismissal in the 17th over, the Kings lost two more wickets in quick succession and were eventually reduced to 133/8 in 18.1 overs.
But, Khushdil held his nerves calm and guided Kings to a tense victory with an unbeaten 23 off 17 deliveries with the help of three boundaries.
Wood was the standout bowler for Zalmi, picking up three wickets for just 28 runs in his four overs, followed by Ali Raza, who claimed two, while Arif Yaqoob and Alzarri Joseph dismissed one batter apiece.
Put into bat first on a challenging surface, Zalmi’s batting unit could accumulate 147/8 in their allotted 20 overs despite skipper Babar Azam’s gutsy knock.
The two-wicket victory helped Karachi Kings replace Lahore Qalandars to secure second position in the PSL 10 standings as they now have six points after five matches, while Peshawar Zalmi remained fourth.
PLAYING XIs
Karachi Kings: Tim Seifert(w), David Warner(c), James Vince, Saad Baig, Khushdil Shah, Irfan Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza.
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Tom-Kohler Cadmore, Hussain Talat, Mitch Owen, Abdul Samad, Luke Wood, Alzari Joseph, Arif Yaqoob and Ali Raza.
