Sports Desk
LAHORE: Peshawar Zalmi defeated Karachi Kings by 55 runs in the 19th match of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition, as they denied the Babar Azam-led side to break their losing streak in the ongoing tournament.
The Kings are at the bottom of the points table with no points to their credit as they have failed to win a single match. The Sunday loss against Zalmi is their sixth consecutive defeat in PSL 7.
After being invited to bat first, the Zalmi had set a 194-run target at the loss of six wickets, and they defended with ease as Kings managed to score a mere 138 for the loss of same wickets in 20 overs.
Chasing a massive 194-run target, Kings’ lost their aggressive opener Sharjel Khan for 14 runs with 25 runs on the scoreboard.
Babar with Joe Clarke launched a 55-run second wicket partnership, but the required-run-rate continued to mount as Clarke was dismissed in 13.2 overs.
Only Babar was the leading run-scorer with 59 runs off 46 balls but he absorbed too many dot balls, while no other batter managed to play a big knock.
Wahab Riaz and Salman Irshad picked two wickets each.
Earlier, openers Hazratullah Zazai and Muhammad Haris gave Peshawar Zalmi a flying start and shared a 97-run partnership in the initial 10 overs. In his debut match in the PSL 7, Haris scored 49 runs off 27 deliveries with three fours and four sixes. He was bowled by Mohammad Nabi.
Troubled Karachi Kings, who have lost all four of the matches that they have played in the tournament so far, once again displayed poor fielding and dropped many catches.
Hazratullah Zazai smashed his half century off 41 balls with six fours and one six. Qasim Akram dismissed him on 52. Liam Livingstone went to the pavilion after posting just 6 runs.
Shoaib Malik and Ben cutting scored 31 and 26 runs, respectively, for their team.
Karachi Kings’ pace Chris Jordan bagged three wickets, while Muhammad Nabi, Umaid Asif, and Qasim Akram took one wicket each. It is pertinent to mention that Kings dropped at least six catches in the fixture.
Earlier, former champions Karachi Kings’ skipper Babar Azam won the toss and opted to field first against Zalmi.
Both sides have faced each other 16 times with Karachi winning only 5 of the games, while Peshawar won on 11 occasions.
The Kings have lost all five matches in the first leg of the tournament played in Karachi. Peshawar won 2 of the 5 matches it played at National Stadium with one victory coming against Karachi Kings.
Zalmi, on the other hand, didn’t get enough chances to cheer in the Karachi leg of the tournament and they’re just one place above the 6th placed Karachi Kings on the points table.
With both sides looking to do something for survival in the tournament and keep the campaign going, one can expect them to go all-in on Sunday afternoon.
A defeat would further dent Karachi Kings’ chances to stay among the contenders in the tournament, while Peshawar, having four points from five matches, isn’t looking in a comfortable position either. However, Wahab Riaz has got less to worry about than Babar who was named Kings’ captain right before this season.
