KARACHI: An unbeaten half-century by Babar Azam anchored Karachi Kings to their maiden Pakistan Super League title after beating Lahore Qalandars by five wickets in the final on Tuesday.
Azam’s 63 not out off 49 balls propelled Karachi to 135-5 with eight balls to spare.
Lahore misread the slow pitch and labored to 134-7.
Azam finished the tournament, which resumed on Saturday after being suspended for eight months by the pandemic, as the leading run-scorer with 473. He gauged the pitch in the final to perfection, hitting seven boundaries.
Azam raised his half-century with back to back boundaries against Pakistan’s premier pace bowler, Shaheen Afridi, and captain Imad Wasim hit the winning runs, a boundary through the covers against the left-arm fast bowler in the penultimate over.
Chadwick Walton, who made 22, combined with Azam for 61 from 50 balls for the third wicket.
Earlier, Lahore’s lineup packed with power-hitters stuttered against Karachi’s all-Pakistan bowling attack after Umaid Asif was picked ahead of South African left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell.
Tamim Iqbal (35) and Fakhar Zaman (27) opened with 68 but consumed half of the overs.
Asif removed both openers within four balls and, when Mohammad Hafeez holed out, Lahore lost three wickets in the space of two runs.
In the death overs, Samit Patel and Ben Dunk fell to false strokes against medium pacer Arshad Iqbal, 2-26. Fast bowler Waqar Maqsood capped a brilliant bowling performance by Karachi when he had two wickets in the penultimate over. Lahore let 52 balls go for dots in its first final.
Babar Azam leads Karachi to maiden PSL title
https://arab.news/67nxv
Babar Azam leads Karachi to maiden PSL title
- Unbeaten half-century by Azam anchored Karachi Kings to PSL title after beating Lahore Qalandars by five wickets
- Azam’s 63 not out off 49 balls propelled Karachi to 135-5 with eight balls to spare
IMF hails Pakistan privatization drive, calls PIA sale a ‘milestone’
- Fund backs sale of national airline as key step in divesting loss-making state firms
- IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce fiscal burden posed by state-owned entities
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday welcomed Pakistan’s privatization efforts, describing the sale of the country’s national airline to a private consortium last month as a milestone that could help advance the divestment of loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The comments follow the government’s sale of a 75 percent stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a consortium led by the Arif Habib Group for Rs 135 billion ($486 million) after several rounds of bidding in a competitive process, marking Islamabad’s second attempt to privatize the carrier after a failed effort a year earlier.
Between the two privatization attempts, PIA resumed flight operations to several international destinations after aviation authorities in the European Union and Britain lifted restrictions nearly five years after the airline was grounded following a deadly Airbus A320 crash in Karachi in 2020 that killed 97 people.
“We welcome the authorities’ privatization efforts and the completion of the PIA privatization process, which was a commitment under the EFF,” Mahir Binici, the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, said in response to an Arab News query, referring to the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility.
“This privatization represents a milestone within the authorities’ reform agenda, aimed at decreasing governmental involvement in commercial sectors and attracting investments to promote economic growth in Pakistan,” he added.
The IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce the fiscal burden posed by loss-making state firms, which have weighed public finances for years and required repeated government bailouts. Beyond PIA, the government has signaled plans to restructure or sell stakes in additional SOEs as part of broader reforms under the IMF program.
Privatization also remains politically sensitive in Pakistan, with critics warning of job losses and concerns over national assets, while supporters argue private sector management could improve efficiency and service delivery in chronically underperforming entities.
Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises said on Friday that SOEs recorded a net loss of Rs 122.9 billion ($442 million) in the 2024–25 fiscal year, compared with a net loss of Rs 30.6 billion ($110 million) in the previous year.
