Karachi Kings won the opening match of the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) against Quetta Gladiators at Karachi's National Stadium on Saturday.

The Kings made quick work of the 122-run target set by the Gladiators with Joe Clarke scoring 46 runs off 23 balls before being dismissed in the sixth over.

Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar was quick to congratulate the defending champions. "By the way, the captain of the Karachi Kings is a young man from Islamabad," he said.

The Gladiators had managed to score 121 runs in 19.2 overs. The Kings started off strong by dismissing both Sarfaraz Ahmed and Tom Banton early in the game.

Saim Ayub, who made his T20 debut, fell in the eighth over, adding an equal number of runs to the scoreboard. Chris Gayle, dubbed the "T20 superstar", met his downfall in the ninth over. Gayle scored 39 runs.

Earlier, the Kings had won the toss and opted to field first.

Teams

Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Colin Ingram, Joe Clarke (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Dan Christian, Imad Wasim (capt) Aamer Yamin, Waqas Maqsood, Mohammad Amir, Arshad Iqbal

Quetta Gladiators: Chris Gayle, Tom Banton, Azam Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt &wk(), Saim Ayub, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain, Qais Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Usman Shinwari