Amir, Babar help Karachi trounce Peshawar

By AFP

March 03, 2020

RAWALPINDI: Karachi Kings defeated Peshawar Zalmi comfortably by six wickets in their HBL PSL match at Pindi Stadium here on Monday due largely to brilliant bowling by Muhammad Amir and an equally exceptional display of skills in batting by Babar Azam.

Amir’s 4 for 25—two wickets in the first over—and Babar’s 70 off 59 balls ensured Peshawar never really had a chance of winning the game despite the efforts of Shoaib Malik, who amassed 68 off 55 balls, and Yasir Shah, who got two for 28 in his four overs.

Asked to bat first, Peshawar had the worst of possible starts to their innings, losing three wickets just for 10 runs on the board, including their two men in red-hot form—Kamran Akmal and Haider Ali. LS Livingstone and L Gregory lent Shoaib Malik a helping hand but even with their 25 runs each, Peshawar managed only a below par 151 for eight.

Sharjeel Khan fell cheaply once again, but Babar and Alex Hales (49 off 27) scored 101 for the second wicket to take the game away from Peshawar.

Peshawar were on the backfoot from the first ball. Tom Banton was slow with his footwork to an Amir inswinger from over the wicket. The ball thudded into his pads, and a review found it would hit the stumps. Amir removed Haider two balls later, while Aamer Yamin got rid of Kamran.

Malik held the innings together, but the power hitting that Peshawar required proved beyond him. Karachi had two overs of Amir towards the end, and he sent Gregory and Carlos Brathwaite back to the pavilion, while Chris Jordan’s consistency in the death ensured Peshawar would not have momentum at the change of innings.

Sharjeel fell to Hasan Ali in the first over of the chase, but any expectations Peshawar may have harboured were crushed by Hales and Babar. Yasir struck twice in an over, but Peshawar had left themselves far too much to do by that point.

Azam reached his half-century off 44 balls, slow by T20 standards, but he remained in full control. He would stay for the winning runs, ending the game with a majestic late cut past backward point for four.

Three wins in five took Karachi to six points along with Quetta Gladiators. They sit third, just behind the defending champions on net run rate. Peshawar fell to fifth, having one just two matches in six.

Multan Sultan remain at the top with four wins from five matches. Islamabad United with two wins from six games are fourth. Lahore Qalandars remain at the bottom, having failed to win any one of their three matches so far.

Karachi Kings won toss

Peshawar Zalmi

T Banton lbw b Amir 0

Kamran Akmal c Babar b Yamin 4

Haider Ali b Amir 4

Shoaib Malik c Walton b Jordan 68

LS Livingstone c Babar b Umer 25

L Gregory c Imad b Amir 25

CR Brathwaite c Walton b Amir 8

*Wahab Riaz lbw b Jordan 2

Hasan Ali not out 4

Yasir Shah not out 1