KARACHI Karachi Kings defeated Peshawar Zalmi by ten runs in an interesting contest in the second Twenty20 match of the Pakistan Super League 2020 here at the national Stadium on Friday. The hosts have opened their account with two winning points in their first match in the tournament. in their bid to chase down an impressive 202-runs target handed to them by the Karachi Kings after they were put into bat by the ‘Yellow Storm’earlier on Friday at the National Stadium in Karachi.In-form Babar Azam top scored with 78 from 56 balls while skipper Imad Wasim blasted a 30-ball 50 to help the Kings set Peshawar Zalmi a daunting target of 202. Zalmi then lost two early wickets to Kings’ Chris Jordan, who took down Tom Banton (13 off 13) and Haider Ali (4 off 3) in the third over of the innings. Zalmi were 39 for the loss of 2 at the end of the fifth over, with Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik at the crease. It seemed hard for Zalmi to bounce back after Delport bowled the in-form and dangerous Kamran Akmal. With four wickets down and a required run-rate that seems to be becoming steeper with each over, winning the match will prove an uphill task for Zalmi. Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi had won the toss and decided to field first in the second match of the fifth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), being hosted at the National Stadium in Karachi. BabarAzam looked in supreme touch and scored half century, helping his team set a big target for the opponents. Sharjeel Khan hit a couple of sixes before scooping one to Hassan Ali at long on. Cameron Delport too was in aggressive mode and scored 20 runs. Peshawar Zalmi are onetime winners of the PSL, as they won the coveted PSL trophy in the second edition in 2017. They have been the runners-up for the last two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019. On the other side, Karachi Kings have not been able to win the tournament nor have they ever been runners-up. They achieved the fourth position in the first and the fourth editions, in 2016 and 2019, and were placed third in two successive editions, 2017 and 2018. In today’s match, both teams are balanced, but the Zalmi are looking a better side on the basis of their past performance, with one trophy and two second spots in the tournament. Addressinga presser before thematch,captains of both sides expressed their confidence of getting off to a winning start. “The pitches in Pakistan create a lot of excitement and I see the best bowling team will win this tournament,” said Sammy. “No doubt Peshawar are a very good side butwe also have a solid combination andwewill try to deliver tomorrow,” Imad told a news conference on Thursday. Karachi Kings: Chadwick Walton, Babar Azam, Sharjee Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Cameron Delport,Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Umaid Asif, Mohammad Amir, Chris Jordan andArshad Iqbal. Peshawar Zalmi: Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Kamran Akmal, Haider Ali, Mohammad Mohsin, Shoaib Malik, Darren Sammy, Liam Dawson, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali and Rahat Ali.—APP
