Hyderabad Kingsmen 189 for 6 (Sadaqat 37, Hassan 33*, Abbas 2-30) beat Karachi Kings 188 for 8 (Baig 53, Moeen 44, Hunain 3-19, Mohammad Ali 2-35) by four wickets
Kings were dealt an early blow with David Warner missing out due to a back injury, and it showed in what was a slightly sedate start. Reeza Hendricks, his stand-in, fell in the first over. Even cameos from Muhammad Waseem, Salman Agha and Azam Khan did not quite come at a great clip in the powerplay.
Hunain Shah dismissed Agha and Waseem in quick succession during a brilliant two-over spell, as he picked up where he left off in the previous game as far as finding the yorker length was concerned.
Kingsmen appeared on top when Marnus Labuschagne got Azam Khan to hole out, but the momentum slipped away with the ill-judged decision to bowl two further overs of spin against Moeen. Glenn Maxwell and Saim Ayub conceded 40 runs in those two overs, the lion’s share to Moeen, as Kings flew past what might have been a par score. It was left to Hunain to bowl another pair of brilliant death overs to restrict Kings; the 188 they scored came despite Hunain’s four-over figures of 3 for 19.
The late rally from Kingsmen buoyed them into making one of the fastest starts of the PSL this season. Labuschagne gave Moeen some payback by smashing 18 runs off him in the first over even as Maaz Sadaqat piled on from the other end. Only a brilliant grab from Afridi cut Labuschagne’s knock short. But he still scored 26 in ten balls, and Sadaqat and Usman Khan carried on with the carnage.
Kingsmen smashed 76 in the powerplay, and the skies darkened further for Kings when Zampa, their go-to man, conceded 11 runs in his first over. However, Kings felt they had the ability to turn the game around, a process first initiated by Afridi, who drew Usman into one slog too many after he had been reprieved on the boundary earlier in the over.
Zampa then rediscovered his customary threat with the ball, beating Sadaqat in the air as he holed out thanks to a brilliant catch diving forward from Khushdil Shah. Ayub, who came in late after sustaining a knock in the field, didn’t last long, and a rusty Maxwell skied his seventh ball to leave Kingsmen’s top five gone with another 75 runs to get.
A lot came down to Kusal Perera as he set himself up for the finish alongside Irfan, but disaster struck for Kingsmen when a perfectly timed jab from Kusal picked out wide midwicket. It brought them down to their last recognised pair of Irfan and Hassan, who found a way to stay in touch with the asking rate before exploiting an errant Ihsanullah over to bring the requirement down to 24 in three overs.
That, even for a Kingsmen side low on confidence, was a favourable equation, one they ensured they stayed on the right side of to inflict a second successive defeat on Kings.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
