PSL 2021: Karachi captain Imad eyes victory in final game after beating Lahore

Abu Dhabi - Kings, the defending champions, remained on the fifth spot on the points table after the win

Babar Azam’s 20th PSL half-century followed by a disciplined bowling display from Karachi Kings helped deliver a thrilling seven-run win over rivals Lahore Qalandars in the sixth edition of the tournament. This was Qalandars’ third successive defeat.

Kings, the defending champions, remained on the fifth spot on the points table after the win. They now have eight points from four wins in nine matches.

Qalandars’ position also remained unchanged as they sat on the third spot with 10 points.

Batting first, Kings made 175 for five, thanks to Babar's 44-ball 54.

In reply, the Qalandar made 169 for seven.

Imad Wasim, the Kings captain, credited the bowlers for the much-needed victory.

"I think we were 20 runs short to be honest. It was the pressure of the wickets. The bowlers bowled really really well, according to the plan, and it came off," said Wasim.

The Kings captain admitted they would face a do-or-die situation in their last league game against Quetta Gladiators on Saturday.

"It's the end of the tournament and you should peak at the right time. We have one more game and if we win, we go through. We are in the right frame of mind. We lost three games, it was really disappointing. We stood up and spoke in the team meetings," he said.

Qalandars were provided a flying start in their chase of 177. Fakhar Zaman smashed Wasim for two gigantic sixes on the leg-side and Sohail Akhtar, the Qalandars captain, followed it up with two fours off Mohammad Amir in the second.

The third over added another 11 runs to the total, but it took almost seven more overs and the loss of three wickets for Qalandars to score the next 34 as Kings, on the back of their brilliant bowling, pulled their side back in the contest.

It was young pacer Mohammad Ilyas who delivered the first breakthrough as he trapped Qalandars captain LBW in the fifth over. Imad had his revenge on the first ball of the ninth over when he bowled Fakhar.

Meanwhile, left-arm wrist spinner from Afghanistan, Noor Ahmad, continued to deny any opportunities to Qalandars batsmen to score runs.

A comic mix-up during an appeal for leg-before wicket on Noor’s bowling saw Agha Salman run out at the non-striker’s end thanks to Danish Aziz’s presence of mind and a superb direct hit.

Ben Dunk was the next wicket to fall when Babar took a sharp catch at first slip off Noor on the last ball of the 12th over.

Any hopes that Qalandars fans harboured were shattered on the last ball of the 14th over when Hafeez drove Noor straight to Imad at extra cover.

Qalandars were five down for 92 with the required run-rate at a daunting 14.17.

But there was a twist in the tale. A scintillating display of power-hitting from Tim David (34 off 14, three sixes and two fours) and James Faulkner (33 off 18, three sixes and one four) added 58 runs to the team’s total in just four overs.

In the 18th over, the pair struck Abbas Afridi for three sixes in the first four balls before David holed out to long-off.

Qalandars needed 18 off the last three balls and Rashid Khan deposited Ilyas for a six over third-man. That final hope, however, was short lived as the next ball went to four and the last ball turned out to be a dot.

Kings’ innings was studded with yet another Babar half-century. The Pakistan captain stroked seven fours in his 44-ball 54 and is now just six runs away from becoming the first batsman to touch 2,000-run mark in the PSL.

5pm UAE Time