DUBAI – Karachi Kings won must-win match against the Lahore Qalandars on the very last ball when it required four runs in the 18th game of the PSL at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.
Kieron Pollard, who turned the tables on Qalandars in last over and snatched victory confidently from the hands of competitor team by hitting six off the last ball.
19.6 SIX! Aamer Yamin to Kieron Pollard
watch https://t.co/VKqPxYves5#KKvLQ #HBLPSL #AbKhelJamayGa pic.twitter.com/WFCbbCr5J7— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 25, 2017
Chasing the target of 156 runs, King’s Babar Azam (49), KC Sangakkara (20) and DPMD Jayawardene (10) returned to pavilion, while KA Pollard scored 45 runs off 20 balls and remained not out.
For Qalandars, BB McCullum scored 31 runs off 28 balls, Fakhar Zaman 19 off 15 balls, Umar Akmal 20 off 22 balls, while Mohammad Rizwan made 32 runs and remained not out.
Meanwhile, Kings’ Usama Mir picked up 2 wickets by giving 38 runs in four overs and Shoaib Malik also got two wickets against 21 runs in 4 overs.
It’s a do or die match for Kings, who sit at the bottom of the table with just 4 points and need to win both of their remaining two matches to make it to the playoffs.
Chris Gayle has been replaced by Mahela Jayawardene.
The match started at 04:30 PM Pakistan time, which corresponds to 04:00 PM Indian time, 12:00 GMT and 03:30 PM according to UAE time.
The second match will be played between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators at 9 PM.
Where to watch: All matches will air on PTV Sports, Ten Sports and Geo sports. Similarly, cricket enthusiasts of the world can catch live action on MENA – OSN, Africa – Startimes, Bangladesh – Gazi TV, UK – A plus, channel 44, Prime TV, Geo TV, Caribbean – Flow TV, USA – A Plus, Afghanistan – Moby.
The top four teams will qualify for the playoffs in which the first-ranked team at the end of the league stage will take on the second-placed side in the first playoff.
The second playoff will see the third and the fourth-ranked side take on each other before the losing team from the first playoff faces the winning team from the second playoff.
The final will be played between the winner of the first playoff and the third playoff.
The first and second playoffs will be played in Sharjah while the third playoff will be hosted by Dubai. If the tournament gets security clearance the final will be held on March 5 in Lahore.
Karachi Kings: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Shoaib Malik, Chris Gayle, Babar Azam, Ravi Bopara, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Saifullah Bangash, Shazaib Hasan, Sohail Khan, Kieron Pollard, Ryan McLaren, Khurram Manzoor, Kashif Bhatti, Usman Khan, Hasan Mohsin, Mahela Jayawardene, Usama Mir, Rahat Ali, Amad Alam.
Lahore Qalandars: Brendon McCullum (captain), Azhar Ali, Aamer Yamin, Sohail Tanvir, Sunil Narine, Umar Akmal, Jason Roy, Yasir Shah, James Franklin, Mohammad Rizwan, Cameron Delport, Fakhar Zaman, Bilawal Bhatti, Ghulam Mudassar, Usman Qadir, Grant Elliot, Chris Green, Saif Badar, Mohammad Irfan (Jr.), Zafar Gohar.
