RAWALPINDI: Karachi Kings bowed out of the Pakistan Super League with a consolation 86-run win over defending champion and league leader Lahore Qalandars on Sunday.
In the early cricket game, Peshawar Zalmi dismantled the batting powerhouse of Islamabad United to round off its league stage with a 13-run victory.
Fourth-place Peshawar will again face third-place Islamabad in an elimination match on Thursday. The winner of that game will take on the loser of the qualifier between Lahore Qalandars and second-place Multan Sultans on Wednesday.
Lahore finished top of the table with 14 points. Karachi, which beat Lahore twice, was eliminated from the playoffs with six points.
In the absence of rested skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, Lahore lacked bowling firepower upfront as Karachi made 196-7 after choosing to bat first. Opening batter Mohammad Akhlaq hit 51 runs off 36 balls in his first game this season before captain Imad Wasim scored 45 to finish the tournament with an impressive aggregate of 404 runs in 10 games.
Lahore was dismissed for 110 in 18.5 overs. Pacer Akif Javed took 2-8 in three overs and spinner Imad picked up 2-26 in four overs.
At Rawalpindi, fast bowler Khurram Shahzad (3-13 in 1.4 overs) and left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem (3-37 in four overs) were two of the six changes Peshawar made to its playing XI. The pair snared six wickets between them to dismiss Islamabad for 166 in 19.4 overs.
Asked to bat first, Peshawar couldn’t capitalize on Mohammad Haris’ whirlwind 79 off 39 and was restricted to 179-8 after regular captain Babar Azam was forced to sit out due to illness.
Islamabad finished the league stage with 12 points from six wins but ended up third behind Multan on net run-rate. Peshawar got 10 points.
Haris raised his half century off 26 balls and led Peshawar to 116-1 by the halfway stage as he shared a century-stand with Bhanuka Rajapaksa (41). Islamabad captain Shadab Khan (2-42) dismissed both batters in successive overs.
Peshawar’s middle-order couldn’t pick up the pace in the latter half against the variation of Hasan Ali (3-39).
Islamabad power-hitters Alex Hales (15) and Colin Munro (15) both fell while going for big shots before Muqeem ignited a middle-order collapse. Shadab was caught for 25 against Muqeem.
Faheem Ashraf top-scored with 38 off 13 balls and added 55 off 24 balls with Mohammad Wasim before Shahzad claimed the last two wickets with two superb yorkers in the final over.
