Karachi Kings' nightmarish season in the Pakistan Super League 7 continued as the Babar Azam-led 2020 champions lost their sixth successive match of the season while Peshawar Zalmi kept alive hopes of a playoff berth with a 55-run win in tournament's 19th match played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Sunday afternoon.
The defeat has left Kings needing a miracle to reach the play-offs as they would not only need to win all of their remaining four matches, they would also need other results to go in their favour. Zalmi has now won three out of their seven matches and remains in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Put into bat, the Zalmi openers Hazratullah Zazai and debutant Mohammad Haris (player of the match) made full use of the Kings' profligacy in the field, especially in the power play overs. Haris who hit a six off the first ball he faced in his HBL PSL career was dropped by Sahibzada Farhan. Zazai was let off by Farhan when he was on two.
The duo kept going after the bowling and earned rich rewards in their 97-run opening stand which ended on the last ball of the 10th over with Haris bowled by Nabi for a scintillating 49 off 27 balls (three fours, four sixes).
Zazai scored his third 50 in a mere four matches against the Kings, the left-hander was eventually dismissed by Qasim Akram who was appearing in his first match of the season for 52 off 42 balls. Zazai's innings was laced with six fours and a six.
Shoaib Malik (31 off 21, three fours) and Ben Cutting (26 off 15, four fours) made useful contributions to steer their side to 193 for six. Chris Jordan with three wickets for 41 was the most successful Kings bowler.
Brief Scores: Peshawar Zalmi 193/6 (Hazratullah Zazai 52, Mohammad Haris 49; Chris Jordan 3-41); Karachi Kings 138/6 (Babar Azam 59, Joe Clarke 26; Wahab Riaz 2-26).
( With inputs from ANI )
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