Kings of Karachi 191 for 4 (Azam 77, Nabi 67, Saqib 2-41) beat Peshawar Zalmi 188 for 5 (Bopara 58 *, Rutherford 46, Abbas Afridi 2-27, Ilyas 2-38) with six wikis
Early into the second innings, it looked as if a batting side would first win a game in PSL 2021. However, it was not going to be, as catches would often fall from fielders Peshawar Zalmi along with fifty individual for Babar Azam (77 *) and Mohammad Nabi (67) got a comfortable Karachi Kings victory at the National Stadium. The short win takes the Kings from fourth to first on the 2021 PSL points table. It also makes the streak of running sides wins to 13 in as many games.
When Nabi joined Azam in the seventh time after the defeat, the Kings struggled at 43 for 3 in pursuit of 189. But they took full advantage of the opportunities offered by Zalmi Rangers to run 118 runs. in less than ten petals. After Nabi was sent off in the 17th over, Dan Christian played an unseen cameo of 16 on the way to hitting the winning streaks, thus completing a redemption arc for Australia , after dropping 32 – the most expensive in PSL history – in the final round of the first innings. It was a fitting end to the tournament that misfield for four ended the game.
There were some positives for the Zalmi, however, who was playing without regular captain Wahab Riaz, who was out due to backup, as well as Imam Ul Haq and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. At one point in the first innings, they also struggled at 69 for 4, reaching 188 for 5 courtesy of a 40-ball 58 from Ravi Bopara – who came into the XI for the game this – and a 32-ball 46 from Sherfane Rutherford.
Abbas Afridi gives Kings an early boost
With Imam dropped from the XI, Zalmi de Kamran Akmal and Tom Kohler-Cadmore had a new opening pair. Together they got off to a good start, adding 30 for the first wicket. But in fifth place, PSL debater Abbas Afridi – who was Pakistan ‘s top wicket catcher at the last U – 19 World Cup – got the better of him. After constantly harassing Akmal in his first outing, Abbas – Pakistan’s nephew of Umar Gul – sent a short ball that hit the bat straight to the third. Four balls later, Abbas sent off the struggling Kohler-Cadmore for 10 when the Englishman abused Sharjeel Khan at midwicket.
The youngster Mohammad Ilyas then hit with the first member of his game the next time when stand-in captain Shoaib Malik was caught lbw. That reduced the Zalmi to 34 for 3, after which Bopara and Haider Ali were looking to comb a coalition. Although Abbas kept them quiet, the pair took on Imad Wasim for an eighth run over 16. But the stance was broken when Christian Ali got in the tenth over, caught deep behind a square on the side of the leg.
Bopara, Rutherford sizzle for Zalmi
At 69 for 4, the Zalmi were in big trouble, but their two overseas players Bopara and Rutherford changed the movement of the innings. While Bopara started slowly, Rutherford hit main gear from the start. He beat Arshad Iqbal for six and four in the 11th over, after which the two bats overtook Christian for another two-digit draw in the 12th.
Shortly afterwards, the Zalmi were past three numbers and the pair’s fiftieth partnership was reached in 40 balls. The fireworks then went off, as the Zalmi hit 79 off the last five petals. The six-back Rutherford sent off Ilyas the 17th over. Bopara then reached its fifty off 38 balls in the 18th with a finish. And when Rutherford fell for 46 the next over, Zalmi had surpassed 150, a very popular score considering where they were in the play.
However, a score of 150-plus got a big boost in the final when the incoming bat hit Amad Butt 32. The hard-hitting player hit three blows off the first three legal deliveries, then hit six, and after Christian went back-handed the last delivery due to five hits, Butt beat six to finish the rest, taking his personal case to 27 off seven and Zalmi score to 188 for 5.
The fall of a high order for the Kings
The forward end move of the first innings had rubbed on the Zalmi, and when the second innings started they hit the first ball with a Sharjeel wicket. Looking to drag Mohammad Imran, Sharjeel found Mohammad Irfan at the short leg. Irfan then got among the wickets when he got a long ball to Joe Clarke to cross, just for Clarke to catch the keeper.
The two quick wicks, however, did not stop Azam from playing his pictures. He penalized loose balls from Irfan for a back four and then hit Saqib Mahmood for four down the ground to keep the scoreboard going. However, he saw the third batting maker walk backwards when Colin Ingram, who was out of form, deflected a pull for a grip on the side of the leg. At that point, Kings were 43 for 3 and in extreme obstruction.
Nabi, Azam makes full use of opportunities
Zalmi had already let down a catch early in which Ingram got an early rebound into his innings when Mahmood grabbed a midfielder. However, Ingram did not increase that opportunity. But when Nabi and Azam were given the same thing, then they made full use of it.
Nabi had shown early signs that they were in close contact with the bat with a finish off Butt and a six off Umaid Asif to start strong. In the 11th over, with his personal score at 20, he was let down by Butt at deep midwicket. Not only did that chance go down for four, but Nabi hit the next ball for six to move to 30 instead of two deliveries and took the run in the rest to 21.
After dropping Nabi at the end, Butt then countered his mistake when he caught the ball in the 14th. Nabi hit him for four hours in a row and six instead of three balls to halve his 28-ball and finished the rest with four more to take 18 off the rest. Halfway through the 15th over, Azam picked Asif’s slowest and nicest ball early and introduced it to the crowd. The mid-over attack from the two brought the equation down to 63 reach off five petals.
Butt’s nightmare in the second innings, however, was far from over. He delivered five hits in the 16th with a slower ball going wrong as the pressure began to shift from the Kings to Zalmi. Azam then smoked it over a deep midwicket to reach his fifties with six. He then found the gap at midwicket to bring up the first engagement. And after that, he gathered another six thanks to a drop from an Imam substitute when he failed to hold on to an arrest after backing up near the finish line. Butt’s four goals went for 56, the most expensive spell by bowler Zalmi, and that 25-over final delivered with the required running rate to less than 10 with four goals to go.
By that time, Zalmi’s shoulders had fallen off and the Kings were on the verge of victory. Although Nabi fell for his 35-ball 67 in the 17th, there was no pressure on the defending champions. The positioned Azam kept searching the boundaries and Christian had a chance to free himself for the 32 runs he had conceded in the first innings of the 20th with a brief explosion with the bat. And while Azam got the lead with 77, the Player-of-the-Match award went to Nabi.
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo