DUBAI: Karachi Kings went to the top of the HBL Pakistan Super League standings after a five-wicket victory over defending champions Peshawar Zalmi at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday night.

Karachi’s second win in as many outings means they head into Monday evening’s last fixture of the first leg in Dubai against Lahore Qalandars in pole position after displacing early pace-setters Multan Sultans. The latter suffered their first loss in three matches earlier in the day, going down to Islamabad United by five wickets. Although Karachi and Multan have four points each, the former lead the table by virtue of a superior net run rate.

Chasing a target of 132, Karachi were made to fight for runs before finally getting home after some late twist and turn. Requiring five from the final over, bowled left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar, they lost Mohammad Rizwan on the third ball. Captain Imad Wasim saw them through with a pulled six on the next ball.

Upfront in the chase Joe Denly (29 off 39 balls, four boundaries), Babar Azam (28 off 20, three fours and one six) and Colin Ingram (23 off 14, two fours and one six) kept their side on track until all of them got dismissed.

Ravi Bopara (17) and Rizwan (19) chipped away in a vital partnership of 30 until Rizwan went. Bopara was fortunate to survive a caught behind, but Peshawar didn’t have the decision review system up their sleeves to overturn the ‘not out’ verdict.

Earlier, Peshawar lost too many wickets to put up a decent total after skipper Daren Sammy opted to bat, hoping for a 160-plus score. Barring Dwayne Smith, the innings was a veritable procession of batsmen.

Smith was determined not to give in and battled it out hard on a tough wicket. The West Indian, who had gone in after Kamran Akmal (14) was trapped leg before wicket with the score on 16, was singlehandedly responsible for providing Peshawar a fighting total with an unbeaten 71.

Smith’s 51-ball knock, which was embellished with five sixes and four fours, earned him the man of the match award, although Karachi’s Amir was a strong contender with his two wickets for a measly six runs.

Scores in brief:

PESHAWAR ZALMI 131-9 in 20 overs (D.R. Smith 71 not out; Mohammad Amir 2-6, Shahid Afridi 2-22); KARACHI KINGS 135-5 in 19.4 overs (J.L. Denly 29, Babar Azam 28, C.A. Ingram 23; Ibtisam Sheikh 2-25, C.J. Jordan 2-29).

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2018