KARACHI: Karachi Kings dominated with the bat and ball as they defeated Lahore Qalandars by five wickets on Tuesday to lift the trophy of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) here at National Stadium.
An economical spell by left-arm fast bowler Muhammad Waqas and a brilliant knock of unbeaten 63 runs by Babar Azam inspired Kings to clinch maiden Pakistan Super League title.
Lahore Qalandars, who opted to bat first after winning the toss, earlier finished at 134-7 in the showdown against Karachi Kings.
In response, the Kings reached the 135-run target with eight balls to spare at Karachi National Stadium. The Kings began their innings in style, with openers Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan both hitting two boundaries each in the first two overs.
Kings lost their first wicket in the fourth over when Sharjeel Khan (13) was caught by Fakhar Zaman off Samit Patel.
Babar led the innings with Walton and took the team’s score to 100. Walton scored 22 off 27 balls and was lbw by Dilbar Hussain.
Kings were 124/3 when Haris Rauf took back to back wickets for Qalandars and sent both Iftikhar Ahmed and SE Rutherford packing.
Skipper Imad Wasim hit the boundary to end Kings’ innings at 135-5 and lift their maiden PSL trophy.
For the Lahore team, Haris Rauf took two wickets.
The Pakistan Super League 2020 champions Karachi Kings have dedicated their victory to their late coach Dean Jones.
Lahore Qalandars innings
While batting first, Qalandars were off to a steady start with openers Tamim Iqbal and Fakhar Zaman scoring 68 runs together. But, wickets of both the openers in quick successions put the batting side under pressure.
Tamim Iqbal was off to a good start but his knock of 35 runs off 38 balls slowed down Qalandars’ score. Fakhar was caught off Umaid Asif after scoring 27 with the help of four boundaries.
Sohail Akhtar and David Wiese scored 14 runs each and both couldn’t stay for long at the crease. Shaheen Shah Afridi expressed his batting skill with a six off Mohammad Amir in last over of the inning. The left-handed batsman scored 12 runs.
For Kings, Waqas Maqsood, Amir, and Arshad Iqbal took two wickets each while Imad Wasim picked up one.
Awards
Babar Azam was named Player of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 after Karachi Kings defeated Lahore Qalandars by five wickets to win their maiden title since the inception of the PCB’s marquee event in 2016.
Babar finished t.he tournament with 473 runs, including three player of the match awards, which also helped him to win the award for Best batsman of the HBL PSL 2020 award.
Babar is the second Karachi Kings’ player to win the prestigious award after Ravi Bopara was declared Player of the HBL PSL 2016 after aggregating 329 runs and taking 11 wickets.
Qalandars Shaheen Shah Afridi won the Best bowler of the HBL PSL 2020. He took 17 wickets, at a strike-rate of 16.4 and economy-rate of 7.11.
Shaheen’s Lahore Qalandars’ team-mate Ben Dunk lifted the award for Best wicketkeeper of HBL PSL 2020 after accounting for nine batsmen behind the wickets.
Haider Ali was declared the Emerging Player of the HBL PSL 2020. The 20-year-old justified his category by first making an impression in the first half of the tournament that earned him a Pakistan call-up before finishing the competition with 239 runs at a strike-rate of 157.23.
Fakhar Zaman was named as the Best Fielder of the HBL PSL 2020 when his fitness and agility not only helped him to save critical runs and create run-out opportunities, but also finished with 10 catches.
Teams:
KARACHI KINGS: Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Alex Hales, Chadwick Walton (wk), Imad Wasim (capt), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Shane Rutherford, Umaid Asif, Arshad Iqbal, Waqas Maqsood
LAHORE QALANDARS: Fakhar Zaman, Tamim Iqbal, Sohail Akhtar (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), David Weise, Samit Patel, Mohammad Faizan, Dilbar Hussain, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi.
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