On a soft and a surprisingly sluggish surface at the National Stadium, Babar Azam‘s half-century and a late blitz from Rovman Powell pushed Zalmi to a score of 147 which the Kings couldn’t overcome thereby ending their own disappointing campaign with six defeats and a fifth-place finish.
Babar Azam‘s half century ensured that Peshawar Zalmi ended their league stage campaign with a tense two-run victory over Karachi Kings, a result that assures them a top-two finish and two shots at making the PSL 2024 final. Peshawar Zalmi successfully defended 147 to beat Karachi Kings by two runs in a nail-biter on Monday. On the last ball, Irfan Khan needed a four and fast bowler Aamer Jamal conceded only one bye.
Pitch and Toss
The same pitch that was used in the last Lahore-Karachi game. The leg-side boundary is 60m at square leg, 74m at midwicket, 80m down the ground, and 75m at long-off. Mark Butcher says half-volleys and offering width are crimes on this pitch. He adds that bowling at hard length is going to be effective. There’s barely any grass on the pitch which meant that the pitch was slowish.
Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first . Both the teams did not make any changes in the squad respectively.
Peshawar Zalmi gets steady start in the powerplay due to sensational Babar Azam’s rich form
Zalmi skipper Babar Azam made the decision to set a target at the toss and was on hand to ensure his team maximized the powerplay – with the hard, new ball making for easier batting. Fifty-four runs came in the PowerPlay despite Shoaib Malik sending down two overs in this phase for just nine runs. It wasn’t all smooth sailing as Babar needed the DRS twice to reverse LBW decisions given against him while his opening partner Saim Ayub overcame a slow start — he was 5 off 11 after four overs — to smash a hat-trick of boundaries off Anwar Ali.
Once Ayub was dismissed two balls into the post-powerplay period by Zahid Mahmood, run scoring against the slower bowlers proved to be extremely challenging. Only 21 runs and two boundaries arrived between overs 6 and 10 with 19-year-old left-arm spinner Minhas bowling his first two overs for just five runs.
Mohammad Haris fell in his attempt to break the shackles while Minhas accounted for Haseebullah Khan. Babar Azam ended a quiet period by slamming Zahid Mahmood for a six and a four before a run-out ended his innings (51 off 46) in the 14th over. The spin trio of Malik, Mahmood and Arafat had combined figures of 12-0-65-2.
The opening duo of Babar Azam and Saim Ayub put on another show of delightful batting after Zalmi won the toss and elected to bat first. They brought up 54 runs at the end of the powerplay. Zahid Mahmood, bowling the seventh over, got rid of Saim (19, 18b, 3x4s) as he turned one prodigiously from outside off to rattle the stumps, bringing an end to the 55-run opening stand.
Zalmi notched 75 runs for the loss of one wicket by the halfway mark as Babar Azam played some fluent shots on a turning track. In the following over, Mohammad Haris (13, 11b, 2x4s) was undone by Hasan Ali as Arafat Minhas took an easy catch behind point. Left-hand batter Haseebullah (1, 5b) too failed to make his mark as Arafat bagged his maiden HBL PSL wicket with Irfan pouching the ball at deep midwicket leaving Zalmi 83-3 after 12.1 overs.
In the 14th over, Babar Azam took apart Zahid’s leg-spin by hitting him for a six and four to bring up his fifth HBL PSL 9 half-century. Later in the same over, he failed to make his ground at the non-striker’s end while attempting a second run and had to return for 51 off 46 balls, comprising five boundaries and a solitary six.
Rovman Powell’s 18 ball 30 powers Peshawar Zalmi to 147 for 6 .
It needed a cameo from Rovman Powell to edge Zalmi close to the 150-mark. The West Indian struck three fours in his 18-ball 30, two of which came in the final over bowled by Hasan Ali to prop Zalmi up. Rovman Powell’s brisk 30 off 18 balls to reach 147 for 6 on a tricky pitch, which offered plenty of turn. Even so, both batters were run out.
On a tricky wicket, Zalmi could only manage 43 runs off the last five overs courtesy Rovman Powell’s 30 off 18 balls, on the back of three boundaries while Aamir chipped in with an unbeaten eight off seven balls. Arafat, making his HBL PSL debut, bowled the most economical spell of the tournament, returning with a wicket for just 11 runs in four overs, as Karachi bowlers conceded 147-6 in the 20 overs with Sam’s, Zahid and Hasan bagging one scalp each.
Tim Siefert and James Vince resolute start in vain as Karachi Kings falters to capitalize in the middle overs
In their reply, the Kings openers, Tim Seifert and James Vince, went through the powerplay unseparated but managed 10 runs fewer than what Zalmi did. And as the ball got softer and the spinners exercised control, run making got difficult and that meant the hosts were always behind the eight-ball. Irfan Khan walked out to bat in the 11th over with the Kings making painfully slow progress at 68/3. He improvised and hit a boundary in each of the next four overs to bring the equation down to 50 from 30.
Karachi’s pursuit of the 148-run target started solidly as opening batters, James Vince and Tim Seifert, put on a 61-run opening partnership. The powerplay yielded 44 runs, with Seifert being the aggressor. Vince struggled to get off the blocks during his stay at the crease, which was cut short in the ninth over by Naveen-ul-Haq, as he returned for a sluggish 21 off 27 balls on the back of four boundaries.
In the next over, Saim outfoxed Shan Masood (0, 2b) with a brilliant ball that turned just enough to hit the off-stump, leaving the batter stunned. At the halfway mark Kings required 84 with Shoaib Malik and Seifert on the crease. In the 11th over Seifert was pinned leg-before wicket against Aamir Jamal, for 41 off 30 balls, comprising eight boundaries.
Kings came agonizingly close in reaching 145 for 5. Tim Siefert (41) and James Vince (21) gave their team a resolute start of 61 by smashing 12 boundaries between them. Then the batters were strangled by Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq( 2-22) and Saim Ayub, (1-18), in the middle overs.
Veteran Shoaib Malik and Irfan Khan tries hard but Aamer Jamal hold his nerve to give Peshawar Zalmi a 2 run win over Karachi Kings
Veteran Shoaib Malik, however, was unable to keep up with the required tempo and his 25-ball 22 added to Kings’ problems. Kieron Pollard fell in his attempts to hit out from ball one and despite a last-ball boundary from Irfan in the penultimate over, the hosts were left needing 17 runs off the final over.
Aamer Jamal began the over well by giving away just four from his first two balls but was hit for boundaries off the next two, bringing the equation down to 5 off 2. An excellent short ball and a pin-point yorker followed to keep the Kings down to just two from those, earning Zalmi a tense but crucial victory.
Shoaib and Mohammad Irfan Khan joined forces to stitch a crucial 49-run fourth-wicket partnership off 41 balls, keeping Zalmi on their toes. With 35 required of the last three overs, Naveen bowled Shoaib in the 17th over, who walked back after scoring 22 off 25 balls comprising one four.
Luke Wood bowled a fine penultimate over conceding just eight and also dismissing the dangerous Kieron Pollard for a paltry one run. Aamir faced with the challenge of defending 17 runs in the last over, gave away 13 runs off the first five balls as Anwar Ali got off strike. Irfan (39 not out, 26b, 7x4s)needed to hit four off the last ball to earn a consolation win for the Kings.
Aamir nailed a yorker as Irfan tried to make room while shuffling to the leg side and missed the ball, taking just one bye off it as Zalmi won the game by a mere two runs. Naveen bagged two wickets while Wood, Aamir and Saim picked up one each. Irfan Khan hit 39 not out and almost won it. On the last ball, Irfan Khan needed a four and fast bowler Aamer Jamal conceded only one bye. Left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas, who picked up 1 for 11, bowled the most economical four-over spell of the league against Zalmi.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Shan Masood the loosing captain said :
“We targeted the fifth win. We couldn’t cross the line. Two close games either side we could have been in a better position. When we won 2 out of 3 games, we were hit by a stomach bug. Unfortunately, we had to chop and change,”
“Some other results also didn’t go our way. Very grateful to the team and the management. The viral bug meant we had to group together. I also couldn’t get the runs as I was supposed to. Would want to thank the fans and the organizers,”
Babar Azam the winning captain and Player of the Match said :
“We were not expecting it would be so soft and it would turn so much. We were looking for 150-160. Not easy to play spinners here. Never expected the wicket to turn so much. Generally, the wicket here is very good. As a player, you have some goals,”
“You want to play well and improve as much as you can. I try to improve every day. My focus is on team’s needs. Credit to the boys. The bowling was outstanding. Ayub bowled very well. He created the impact and put pressure on Karachi batters. The youngsters are doing well. We will look not to repeat our mistakes in the powerplay,”
The Peshawar Zalmi is one of the top two sides and will have an extra shot at the silverware if the need arises. They have confirmed it with a win tonight. Babar Azam once again led with the bat. He batted a little slowly in the middle overs but the wicket wasn’t an easy one to bat on. It hasn’t been an easy campaign for the Kings as they exit with a loss.
Zalmi moved to the top of the standings and will play the first qualifier in the playoffs on Thursday. Their opponent will be determined on Tuesday after the last round-robin game between other qualifiers Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators.
Two-time champions Islamabad United are the other playoffs team and will take on the loser of Tuesday’s game in the Eliminator on Friday. Kings, who were already eliminated from the playoffs race, finished fifth overall with four wins in 10 matches, while defending champions Lahore Qalandars had a dismal campaign with only one win and eight losses.