Clinical Peshawar Zalmi hand Karachi Kings sixth PSL 7 defeat

ISLAMABAD: A clinical Peshawar Zalmi routed Karachi Kings by 55 runs on Sunday with the latter crashing to their sixth defeat in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL). 
Set a target of 194 runs to win the match, Karachi were simply too slow for the ‘Yellow Storm.’ After opting to take the field first, Karachi’s opening batters Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam couldn’t build a partnership with the former departing for the pavilion after scoring only 14 runs. 
Babar Azam was the only Karachi batter to play decently in the game, scoring 56 runs off 46 balls before he was trapped leg-before-wicket by Salman Arshad. 
Joe Clarke, Mohammad Nabi and Ian Cockbain failed to score more than 30 runs each as Zalmi bowlers bowled economically. Karachi Kings finished at 138/6 from their 20 overs. 
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi scored an impressive 193 runs in the first innings, courtesy a strong opening partnership between Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Haris. 
Zalmi’s openers pummeled Karachi’s bowlers, forming a strong 97-run partnership. Left-handed aggressive batter Zazai scored 52 off 42 balls while Haris made 49 off 27 balls before he headed to the pavilion. 
While Liam Livingstone failed to stay at the crease for long and could only score six runs, former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and Ben Cutting put together another solid partnership for Zalmi. 
Malik and Cutting were both dismissed by Chris Jordan for 31 and 26, respectively. The ‘Yellow Storm’ ended up with 193/6 from 20 overs. Chris Jordan was the pick of the Karachi bowlers, finishing with figures of 3/41 from his four overs. 
The latest victory, however, does nothing to improve Zalmi’s ranking on the points table. Peshawar remains at the fifth spot with 6 points, based on the net run rate. 
The seventh edition of Pakistan’s Twenty20 cricket league kicked off on January 27 and will run till February 27. Six franchises, each representing a Pakistani city, are featuring in the tournament.