eshawar Zalmi 181/3 (20/20 over)
Karachi Kings 73/4 (10.5/20 over)
Karachi Kings require another 109 runs with 6 wickets and 55 balls remaining
Karachi Kings RR 6.73
Last 5 ovs 51/1 RR 10.20
Required RR 11.89
Peshawar Zalmi RR 9.05
PSL 2017: Karachi Kings choke under pressure after Zalmi onslaught
Peshawar Zalmi are in the driving seat with a solid 182-run target ─ bolstered by a flurry of boundaries ─ for the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final at Dubai's International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Karachi Kings are playing an uninspired second innings, dotted with dot balls and singles, in the third and final playoff of the season.
Opener Babar Azam was caught out by Wahab Riaz with just one run off seven balls, while Kumar Sangakkara and Shoaib Malik's wickets fell in quick succession shortly after.
The blue shirts' count of 23 runs in the powerplay is the lowest score in a powerplay in PSL history.
The Kings are at 73/4, 10 overs down, with Chris Gayle hitting the first six for the Kings.
Shahid Afridi was benched after sustaining a hand injury while catching a ball.
Zalmi innings
Peshawar Zalmi set 182-run target bolstered by Akmal ton. ─ DawnNews
The Zalmi racked up a solid 181/3, with Sohail Khan taking two wickets and Muhammad Amir one.
A 97-run partnership between Kamran Akmal and Dawid Malan ─ propped up by nine fours and four sixes off the first 10 overs ─ was reportedly the best opening stand for the Zalmi in the PSL.
The partnership was terminated with Malan caught off Sohail Khan in the 11th over, bringing in Marlon Samuels.
Akmal, who smashed a century off 60 balls ─ the first century this season ─ also hit a personal milestone of 4,000 Twenty20 runs this innings.
Shahid Afridi was caught out with zero runs off a delivery by Muhammad Amir in the last over.
The Kings won the toss and opted to field.
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Fight to the final
With Quetta Gladiators already through to Sunday’s final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and holders Islamabad United being humbled by Karachi in Sharjah on Wednesday, the last fixture in the UAE sets up an intriguing battle between two franchises who will be fighting it out to reach their first final.
Today's clash is a virtual semi-final for the right to meet Quetta, who lost the inaugural final in Dubai last year.
Peshawar are still recovering from the heartrending one-run loss in the first playoff to Quetta on Tuesday when Mohammad Nawaz bowled a brilliant last-over after his team had just seven runs to defend.
Karachi, on the other hand, continued their resurgence when they came-from-behind to shock the champions by a handsome margin of 44 runs — a remarkable achievement since Karachi were defending a meagre total of 126 on pitch that favoured bowlers more than the batsmen.
They are on a roll after starting the tournament miserably with three straight defeats.
But once they picked themselves up, they have moved on under the inspirational leadership of Kumar Sangakkara, winning five of the last six games — including all three meetings with Islamabad.
Their only defeat was against Quetta, who have Karachi number by winning all four fixtures against in the two seasons of PSL.
But coming to today's all-important fixture, Peshawar have psychological edge over Karachi on the basis of three victories in four matches against them.
In the current edition, however, the honours have been even.
At the same venue here on Feb 10, Peshawar had Karachi on the run when the latter were 12-4 at the start of that game. Karachi were eventually sent packing for 118 before Peshawar rode on Eoin Morgan’s unbeaten 80 off 57 balls to seal a seven-wicket win.
And in the return match in Sharjah on Feb 19, Karachi celebrated their first victory over Peshawar, who were dismissed for 165 while chasing 175 with pace duo of Sohail Khan and Usman Khan Shinwari sharing six wickets between them.
Peshawar, it must be mentioned, have a fight on their hands if they aspire to reach the final.
They’ll need former captain Shahid Afridi to inspire them with his late good form with the bat.
Depleted by the forced departure of Morgan, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan because of national duty, Peshawar will have to be on top of their game and captain Darren Sammy knows how to soak up the pressure, since he had through that feeling with the West Indies over the years.
Karachi may have the momentum going their way but Peshawar do have the uncanny ability to bounce back when the chips are down and almost chased 201 that Quetta set them three night ago.
Whatever the outcome of this playoff, one thing is for sure ─ neither Sangakkara nor Sammy will be in Lahore to lead their respective team if they reach the final.
Squads
Karachi Kings
Babar Azam, RS Bopara, CH Gayle, Hasan Mohsin, Imad Wasim, DPMD Jayawardene, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Manzoor, R McLaren, Mohammad Amir, KA Pollard, Rahat Ali, Saifullah Bangash, KC Sangakkara (C), Shoaib Malik, Sohail Khan, Usama Mir, Usman Khan.
Peshawar Zalmi
Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan (1), CJ Jordan, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, DJ Malan, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Hafeez, EJG Morgan, DJG Sammy (C), MN Samuels, Shahid Afridi, Shakib Al Hasan, Sohaib Maqsood, Tamim Iqbal, Wahab Riaz.
