Rawalpindi, 6 March 2024: Karachi Kings bagged their third win of HBL PSL 9 after comfortably defeating Quetta Gladiators by seven wickets on Wednesday evening. Hasan Ali took a four-fer to help restrict Gladiators to a measly total of 118 in the first innings. In return, Kings cruised to the target in just 15.3 overs, with seven wickets in hand.

Islamabad United will take on Lahore Qalandars in the second match of the day at the same venue. The first ball is expected to be bowled at 7 pm.

Karachi Kings won the toss and invited Quetta Gladiators to bat first. Shoaib Malik, opening the bowling, conceded two boundaries against Jason Roy in the first over. In the next over, Roy and Saud Shakeel hit a boundary each against Mir Hamza.

Blessing Muzarabani, bowling the third over, provided the breakthrough on his first delivery as Roy (15, 8b, 3x4s) was caught by Hasan Ali at third man.

Khawaja Nafay joined Saud on the crease to stitch a 47-run second-wicket stand, which was cut short in the ninth over courtesy of Hasan who removed both the batters with a gap of two deliveries. Saud (33, 28b, 2x4s, 2x6s) holed one out to Shoaib at deep midwicket while Muzarabani caught Nafay (17, 15b, 1×4, 1×6) at fine leg.

In the 12^th over, substitute field Anwar Ali ran Sarfaraz Ahmed out after a mix-up between the two batters.. The wicketkeeper batter returned after a short eight-ball stay on the crease, making only seven runs including one boundary.

Quetta’s troubles deepened in the 14^th over as skipper Rilee Rossouw (10, 16b) mistimed a shot to Mohammaz Nawaz fielding at long-off. In the subsequent overs, Sherfane Rutherford was caught for a-run-a-ball nine and Zahid rattled Mohammad Amir’s (2, 4b) stumps to leave the Gladiators struggling at 100-7 in 15.3 overs.

Hasan bowled his second double-wicket over of the innings as he got Akeal Hosein (14, 13b, 1×6) and Mohammad Hasnain (5, 9b, 1×4) in the penultimate over.

Hamza dismissed Usman Tariq on the first delivery of the last over as Quetta were bundled over for 118.

Hasan was the pick of the bowlers, returning with a four-wicket haul at the expense of 15 runs, registering his joint-best bowling figures in HBL PSL career. Zahid and Muzarabani accounted for two wickets each. Hamza had one wicket.

Karachi lost their captain, Shan Masood (7, 8b, 1×4), in the second over of the innings when he was caught behind off Amir’s bowling.

The second-wicket partnership between Tim Seifert and James Vince did well to bring Karachi right on track for the 119-run chase. They took on Amir in the fourth over, hitting a six and two fours. In the last over of the powerplay, Vince hit two consecutive fours against Abrar Ahmed.

In the next over, Seifert smashed two fours against Hasnain to keep the momentum going. The two batted together to add 50 to the total, until the partnership was broken in the ninth over as Vince (27, 28b, 2x4s) was caught by Hasnain at gully.

Despite the fall of wicket, Seifert remained steadfast in his onslaught as he produced three consecutive boundaries against Hasnain in the 11^th over. He was joined in the middle by Shoaib, with the duo stitching a vital 44-run third-wicket partnership.

Abrar denied Seifert a half-century as the wicketkeeper batter was stumped in the 14^th over and had to walk back for 49 on 31, with six fours and two sixes.

Shoaib (27 not out, 20b, 2x6s) helped his side get over the line, hitting the winning six against Usman on the third ball of the 16^th over to seal the game..

Amir, Abrar and Hosein had one wicket each.

Scores in brief:

Karachi Kings beat Quetta Gladiators by seven wickets

Quetta Gladiators 118 all out, 19.1 overs (Saud Shakeel 33, Khawaja Nafay 17; Hasan Ali 4-15)

Karachi Kings 121-3, 15.3 overs (Tim Seifert 49, Shoaib Malik 27 not out, James Vince 27; Mohammad Amir 1-23, Abrar Ahmed 1-24)

Player of the match – Hasan Ali (Karachi Kings)