Image Credit- PCB
In a thrilling match
on Monday, Peshawar Zalmi defeated Karachi Kings by two runs thanks to a strong
defence of 147.
Irfan Khan needed a four off the final ball, and quick bowler Aamer Jamal gave
up just one bye.
Zalmi shot up to the top of the rankings and will play Thursday’s first playoff
qualifier. Following the last round-robin match between Quetta Gladiators and
Multan Sultans, the other qualifiers, on Tuesday, their opponent will be
announced.
The other playoff
club, Islamabad United, the two-time champions, will play the winner of
Tuesday’s match in the Eliminator on Friday. With four wins in ten games, the
Kings—who had already been eliminated from the playoffs—finished fifth overall,
while the reigning champion Lahore Qalandars had a miserable season with just
one victory and eight losses.
Captain Babar Azam’s fifth half-century of the year, fifty-one, and Rovman
Powell’s quick thirty off eighteen balls helped Zalmi to 147 for six on a turn-producing
wicket. Still, both batters were out of the game.
Kings narrowly
missed reaching 145 for 5. With 12 boundaries smashed between them, Tim Siefert
(41) and James Vince (21) gave their team a decisive start of 61. Then, in the
middle overs, Afghanistan’s fast bowlers Saim Ayub (1-18) and Naveen-ul-Haq
(2-22) stifled the hitters. Irfan Khan nearly won with a 39-run innings without
out.
The most economical four-over stint of the season was bowled by left-arm
spinner Arafat Minhas (1 for 11) against Zalmi.