The first do-or-die match of the HBL PSL 6 was played last night between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi. Karachi Kings are not been in good touch in the UAE leg of this year’s PSL. They started from the number 1 position and still took their all games to qualify for the playoffs. Karachi is being dependent on Babar Azam a lot.
On the other side, Zalmi is still finding their best combination. Haider Ali failed in all the games he played and Imam ul Haq didn’t impress too. The spinners sometimes perform well and often leak too many runs. Also, replacements have been a big issue.
Eliminator Rules
The eliminator of the HBL PSL is played between the teams that are at number 3rd and 4th on the points table. The loser of this match goes home while the winner faces the loser of Qualifier 1. This is the first knockout match of the playoffs. There is no way back after losing this game.
Toss
Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to field first to chase the target.
Playing XIs
Both the teams made plenty of changes in their playing XI for the all-important match. Peshawar Zalmi’s XI was Wahab Riaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal, Imam ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Rovman Powel, Sherfane Rutherford, Umaid Asif, Khalid Usman, Muhammad Imran, and Muhammad Irfan.
Karachi Kings’ playing XI include Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Shrjeel Khan, Martin Guptil, Chadwick Walton, Danish Aziz, Thisara Prera, Muhammad Illyas, Muhammad Amir, Arshad Iqbal, and Noor Ahmed.
Slow And Steady Start For Karachi
Karachi Kings started slowly in the beginning. Babar Azam along with Sharjeel Khan just kept running the scoreboard slowly by saving the wickets but Sharjeel was unable to hold his nerves for this long. He started to play his natural game. After hitting 5 boundaries Muhammad Irfan dismissed him as the ball hit Sharjeel on his pads.
This was the first wicket for Zalmi. Karachi Kings ended their powerplay at 41 for 1 but Babar was still on the crease that was the plus point for Karachi Kings. Sharjeel scored 26 of 20 balls with 5 fours. In the next over Umaid Asif Strikes too. He took Martin Gutptil’s wicket on duck and Martin Guptil’s failure in PSL 6 continued till the last game.
Imad Wasim promoted Danish Aziz after his heroic knock in the last game. But he managed to score only 13 this time as the tallest cricketer in the world Muhammad Irfan returned him to the pavilion.
Babar Unable To Carry His Innings
Three wickets fell for Karachi Kings in no time. They were 73 for 3 after 11.2 overs with Babar still there. Thisara Perera was the new man on the crease. He smashed the first ball for the boundary. Karachi finished the 12th over at 78 runs. Babar was at 34 runs in 36 balls.
After being too slow Babar charged the emerging fast bowler Muhammad Imran. Babar smashed Muhammad Imran for three consecutive boundaries and pushed his strike rate up. He completed his fifty runs in 42 balls by playing gentle push to Khalid over off-side.
Karachi was hoping for Babar to carry his innings now and end up with a brilliant total for Karachi but nothing happened like this. Babar lofted Wahab Riaz, trying to hit a six, but didn’t manage to get the whole of it. Rovmen Powel had the catching practice at the boundary line and Babar lost his wicket after scoring 53 of 45 balls.
Thisara Perera Played His Vital Role
The replaced guy Thisara Perera took the responsibility to lead Karachi to the fighting total. He started hi hitting by smashing a four the Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz. In the next Perera fancy Khalid Usman and hit him for 22 runs with 2 boundaries and 2 big maximums.
This over of Usman shifted the momentum from Zalmi to Kings. After this Perera hit Umaid for a six too but Umaid bounced back on the next ball and sent Perera back to the pavilion. Perera did his role quite well and gave the momentum to Kings.
After Perera Zalmi lost another wicket of Chadwick Walton. Imad Wasim scored 16 runs off 9 balls in the end and lost his wicket to Muhammad Imran. Karachi finished their innings at 175 with the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs. Babar Azam leads the innings with 53 runs followed by Perera’s quick 37.
Zazai Played Heroic Knock
Hazratulah Zazai is the recently replaced played that joined Peshawar Zalmi. He scored the joint-fastest fifty in his debut PSL match against Karachi in just 17 balls. This time the opposition was the same and Zazai did the same job too. The first ball edged his bat and went to the boundary line.
This was the first and only chance given by Zazai to Kings. Amir came to ball the next over and Zazai dismissed him a big six on the leg side. That six was followed by a boundary too. After Muhammad Amir, Zazai took charge of Muhammad Ilyad and Arshad Iqbal and smashed them out of the ground.
The other Afghan guy in the Karachi XI, Noor Ahmed, came to ball and Kamran Akmal smashed him for 2 consecutive boundaries. After that Noor strike back and bowled Kamran Akmal to get the first breakthrough for Karachi. But the dangerous man Zazai was still on the crease.
Zazai completed his fifty runs by a big six to Imad Wasim. He scored his fifty of just 23 balls with a massive strike rate of over 200. Peshawar Zalmi was 70 for 1 after playing 7 overs only. Zazai scored 77 runs in just 38 balls with 5 massive sixes and 10 fours. He lost his wicket on the slower one from Thisara Perera.
Karachi Took Match To The Last Over
After Zazai’s knock, the stage was set for Zalmi to finish the game in no time but Karachi kept the game in hands and took it to the last over. After losing a couple of wickets Wahab sent Usman along with Malik on the crease. By promoting Usman up the order he saved the important wickets of power hitters.
Shoaib Malik kept going slow and steady and kept the game in his hand. After 17 overs Peshawar Zalmi was 154 for 3 as Usman hit Amir for a massive six on the last ball of his 3rd over. Peshawar needed just 22 runs in the last 3 overs. It was a straightforward task but the drama happened again.
Usman and Malik, both the players, lost their wickets as Muhammad Amir got his first wicket in the UAE leg of the HBL PSL 6. 7 runs were needed off the last over that was supposed to be bowled by Muhammad Ilyas. Rutherford missed few shots but Karachi Kings dropped him twice in the final over. At last, he hit the boundary and finished the game by taking the single.
Predictions
We predict that Peshawar will win the game against Islamabad and Multan will face Zalmi again in the finals. Multan to win the finals.
Match Summary
| Karachi Kings | 175/7(20 Overs) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Babar Azam | 53(45) | Muhammad Irfan | 21/2 (4 Overs) |
| Thisara Perera | 37(18) | Wahab Riaz | 29/2 (4 Over) |
| Peshawar Zalmi | 176/5(19.5 Overs) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazratullah Zazai | 77(38) | Thisara Perera | 10/2 (2 Overs) |
| Shoaib Malik | 30(25) | Muhammad Ilyas | 30/1 (3.5 Over) |
| Match Details | |
|---|---|
| Toss | Peshawar Won, Elected field |
| MOM | Hazratullah Zazai |
| Umpire | Aleem Dar Shozab Raza |
| 3rd Umpire | Asif Yaqoob |
| Match Refree | Muhammad Javed |
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