PSL 9: Karachi Kings hold nerve in thriller to edge Lahore Qalandars

LAHORE: Kieron Pollard’s blistering half-century helped Karachi Kings edge out Lahore Qalandars by two wickets in a last-ball thriller of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 9 at Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 176 runs, the Shan Masood-led team needed 11 from the final over and achieved the target with Mir Hamza’s winning single on the last ball. This was Lahore Qalandars’ fourth successive defeat in PSL 9.

The left-handed Hamza held his nerve despite Ahsan Hafeez’s wicket of Hasan Ali, who smacked six to reduce the margin to five runs.

The Kings didn’t have a great start to the chase, losing four wickets in the powerplay.

Meanwhile, the ‘Man of the Match’ Kieron Pollard partnered with Shoaib Malik in the middle to build a partnership.

The pair accumulated 95 runs for the fifth wicket, with Pollard scoring 58 off 33 balls. Malik anchored with 39 off 32 balls, while Irfan Khan remained not out on 12 off 10 balls.

Zaman Khan was the standout bowler for the Lahore Qalandars, claiming 2/19 in his four over spell, while Haris Rauf returned with 22 runs with one wicket.

Karachi Kings invited the home team to bat first and started brilliantly with the ball as Mir Hamza sent Fakhar Zaman (6) back in the third over.

Sahibzada Farhan and Rassie van der Dussen (26) then knitted an anchoring partnership of 36 runs from as many balls before Tabraiz Shamsi got his South African teammate lbw while attempting a slog sweep.

Farhan stayed firm amidst economical bowling by Karachi Kings, which reduced Lahore Qalandars to 90-4 inside 13 overs.

Shai Hope then played a quick cameo of 21 runs from 13 balls featuring one six and two boundaries before he attempted to clear the boundary again only to get caught by Shoaib Malik.

George Linde joined Farhan with the scoreboard reading 121-6 but they turned things around with a quick 54-run partnership from 26 balls to lift the team’s total to 175 in their allocated 20 overs.

Farhan carried his bat through the innings with an unbeaten 72 off 45, which included four boundaries and as many sixes.

Meanwhile, Linde scored 26 runs at a strike rate of 200 with the help of three boundaries including one six.

For Karachi Kings, Hamza, Shamsi and Hasan Ali claimed two wickets each.