Shoaib Malik was the player of the match for his excellent knock of 51* off 27 balls.

By Abdullah Ansari (19th February, 2017)

Karachi Kings Squad

Chris Gayle, Babar Azam, Kumar Sangakkara*, Shoaib Malik, Ravi Bopara, Kieron Pollard, Imad Wasim, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Amir, Usama Mir, Usman Khan Shinwari.

Peshawar Zalmi Squad

Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Iftikhar Ahmed, Eoin Morgan, Sohaib Maqsood, Shakib al Hasan, Darren Sammy*, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Imran Khan jnr.

Darren Sammy won the toss and opted to field as Peshawar opted to drop Hafeez and Junaid for Iftikhar and Imran Khan jnr while Karachi replaced Kashif Bhatti with Sohail Khan. Babar got Karachi off to a good start with regular boundaries in the powerplay as he continued his good form from the previous game while Sangakkara who was promoted to open provided able support. Babar slowed down and eventually fell to Shakib while Sanga and Gayle followed suit, both getting out to Iftikhar. Malik and Bopara were circumspect with their start but Bopara then began the attack by launching Imran Khan jnr while Malik then took over in the last couple of overs, finishing on 51* off 27 as Karachi finished on a high, at 174/4.

The Zalmi openers began aggressively until Kamran fell, caught at the boundary off Sohail. Two balls later, the pacer also had Tamim caught behind. That became 3 wickets in 5 balls as Iftikhar was caught behind off Imad. Morgan scratched around for a few deliveries before he fell to Malik as pressure mounted on Peshawar. Shinwari then followed with a double strike as Maqsood and Shakib were both caught at the boundary to make it 69/6. However, Afridi counter-attacked with a couple of sixes off Amir while Sammy provided him with support. The equation was brought down to 36 off 14 required until Sammy fell to Sohail, getting caught by Gayle after making 34 off 26. Wahab fell cheaply to Usman but Hasan hit a six and a four to keep them in the game with 18 required off the last over, bowled by Usama. Afridi hit a six on the third ball to make it 10 off 3 but then fell, slicing it to Gayle while Hasan fell next ball, as Karachi sealed their second win.

Next match: Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars

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