Sports

Kamran ‘The Hulk’ Akmal carries Peshawar Zalmi into HBL PSL final

By Khalid Hussain

March 22, 2018

KARACHI: Kamran Akmal is the Bruce Banner of Pakistan cricket. And when he becomes The Hulk, there is no stopping him.

He did that again on a wet Wednesday evening at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore to carry defending champions Peshawar Zalmi into the final of HBL Pakistan Super League.In the process, the 36-year-old stumper just blew away Karachi Kings.

In a game which was reduced to 16 overs because of rain, Kamran hit a 27-ball 77 as he flayed the Karachi bowlers to put his team on course for a big win. He reached his half century off just 17 balls — the fastest in PSL.

With opener Tamim Iqbal out because of injury, the onus was on the seasoned Kamran to provide Zalmi a solid platform. He did much more than that as he played the lead role in a crucial opening partnership of 107 from 55 balls with Andre Fletcher (34 from 30 balls).

Karachi overcame the early loss of Mukhtar Ahmed but even a 117-run partnership for the second wicket between Joe Denly and Babar Azam couldn’t win them the game. Babar and Denly played well but they were never really able to keep pace and in the end Zalmi won comfortably by 13 runs.

Denly was the more aggressive of the two batsmen as he hit an unbeaten 79 from 46 balls with four sixes and nine fours. Babar’s 63 came off 46 balls and included two sixes and six fours.

Sameen Gul, the 19-year-old left-arm pacer, was once again impressive as he finished with figures of 1-20 from 3 overs on a flat wicket. Hasan Ali returned with 1-41 from 4.But it was Kamran’s day.

He was the reason why Peshawar Zalmi avoided an embarrassingly early exit as he hit scintillating knocks of 75 and 107 in their last two group matches in Sharjah against Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars respectively. He fell cheaply in the first eliminator against Quetta Gladiators on Tuesday in Lahore but turned into The Hulk again in front of a packed Gaddafi, hitting the Karachi bowlers with an enviable ease.

The way he batted made one wonder why he remains out of the national selectors’ radar. Carrying a hamstring injury and suffering from a stiff neck, Kamran smashed the Karachi attack all over the park collecting eight sixes and five fours in his stunning knock. When he was in full flow, it seemed that even a total of 200 was within Zalmi’s reach in the rain-shortened game. But as he tried to go for another big one, he fell in the cover region to Ravi Bopara, the most successful of the Karachi bowlers with 3-35 from 3 overs.

Kamran’s exit did stop the flow of runs for Zalmi who lost five wickets in the last six overs, managing 50 from them to take the total to 170-7. Skipper Darren Sammy, opting to play despite a keg injury, was the chief reason why they reached there as he hit 23 from 12 with two sixes.

Though Bopara took key wickets it was Mohammad Amir, who made sure there wasn’t a complete carnage. As if bowling against a different batting line-up, Amir, who was captaining the side, gave away just 16 from his four overs with 13 dots balls. In contrast, Usman Shinwar was hammered for 48 from 3 and Usama Mir gave away 29 from 2.

Zalmi will now fly to Karachi to face Islamabad United in the final on Sunday.

Karachi Kings won toss

Peshawar Zalmi

†Kamran Akmal c Mukhtar b Bopara 77

A D S Fletcher c Denly b Bopara 34

L A Dawson c Ingram b Usman 13

M Hafeez c & b Bopara 13

*D J G Sammy c Denly b Mills 23

Saad Nasim run out 2

Wahab Riaz c Denly b Mills 0

C J Jordan not out 0

Hasan Ali not out 0