SHARJAH: Darren Sammy held nerve to defend 13 runs off the final over as Peshawar Zalmi overcame a Ravi Bopara blitz to register a three-run win over Karachi Kings in their Pakistan Super League clash in front of a raucous Sharjah crowd on Thursday.

When Bopara (67 off 33 balls, five fours and four sixes) hit the first ball of the final over for six, Karachi appeared to have turned around a near-impossible situation to a very gettable equation of seven from five.

In his eagerness to finish the game off, Bopara hit a low full-toss straight down the throat of the long-on fielder to leave the tailenders 5 to get off 3 deliveries.

Sammy then proceeded to bowl three full deliveries, restricting Karachi to just one run, sparking wild celebrations from the Peshawar camp.

Karachi were going nowhere in their chase of 182 when Bopara joined James Vince in the ninth over with the score at 48 for 5. The duo added 61 in just over five overs, sparking an unlikely comeback.

Even then, Peshawar seemed to have enough runs on the board to cruise to victory. Bopara then took 26 off a Shaun Tait over to reduce the equation to 22 from the final two overs.

Bopara had done all the hard work but like in the game against Islamabad, just about failed to take Karachi over the line, who now slip to their third successive defeat complicating their route to the playoffs.

The Kings shot themselves in the foot with a lackadaisical top-order performance. Lendl Simmons fell to Wahab Riaz early before two run-outs dented Karachi’s innings.

Nauman Anwar was caught short of his crease by a Shahid Yousuf direct hit from backward point attempting a quick single while Imad Wasim, inexplicably, showed no urgency to make the crease and found himself short by a couple of inches, while walking through for a single.

By the time young spinner Mohammad Asghar and Shahid Afridi accounted for Shoaib Malik and Shakib Al Hasan respectively inside the 10th over, Peshawar were firmly in control of the game before Bopara nearly took it away from them.

Earlier, after electing to bat, Peshawar got off to a sparkling start with Hafeez batting like only he can — Minimum fuss, maximum productivity.

The former Pakistan captain completed a 29-ball half-century soon after as Karachi’s bowlers continued to serve up generous full tosses. A back-of-the-hand slower ball full toss from Ravi Bopara was deposited on to the roof of the stand, forcing a change of ball. The brief stoppage in play disrupted Hafeez’s concentration as he missed another slower ball from the Englishman to be trapped out LBW for 59 off 25.

Imad continued to struggle even in his second spell as Kamran Akmal helped himself to a flurry of boundaries en route a quickfire 20-ball 30.

Scoreboard

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Tamim Iqbal c Simmons b Bopara37 Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Bopara59 Kamran Akmal c Vince b Amir30 D.J. Malan c Imad b Sohail12 Shahid Afridi not out17 D.J.G. Sammy not out18

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-4, NB-1)9

TOTAL (for four wkts, 20 overs)183

FALL OF WKTS: 1-93, 2-108, 3-143, 4-153.

DID NOT BAT: Shahid Yousuf, Aamir Yamin, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Asghar, S.W. Tait.

BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 4-0-24-1; Imad Wasim 2-0-28-0 (1w); Sohail Tanvir 4-0-38-1 (1nb, 1w); Shakib Al Hasan 2-0-26-0; Usama Mir 4-0-31-0; Bopara 4-0-31-2 (1w).

KARACHI KINGS:

L.M.P. Simmons b Wahab9 Nauman Anwar run out14 J.M. Vince b Tait44 Imad Wasim run out0 Shoaib Malik c Sammy b Asghar8 Shakib Al Hasan c Asghar b Afridi1 R.S. Bopara c Shahid Yousuf b Sammy67 Shahid Tanvir b Wahab23 Usama Mir run out1 Saifullah Khan Bangash not out0 Mohammad Amir not out0

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-7, NB-2)12

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs)179

FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-27, 3-28, 4-46, 5-48, 6-109, 7-170, 8-178, 9-179.

BOWLING: Aamir Yamin 4-0-33-0 (1w); Tait 4-0-45-1 (1nb, 1w); Wahab Riaz 4-0-29-2 (1nb, 2w); Mohammad Asghar 3-0-24-1 (2w); Shahid Afridi 4-0-36-1 (1w); Sammy 1-0-9-1.

RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by three wickets.

UMPIRES: Rashid Riaz (Pakistan) and Shozab Raza (Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Anees (Pakistan).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Hafeez (Peshawar Zalmi).

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2016