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PSL 2021 | Eliminator 1: Poor fielding costs Karachi as Hazratullah Zazai gets Zalmi one step closer to Finale

It was a night of missed chances for Karachi Kings as they dropped many chances and eventually the match to bow out of the Pakistan Super League 2021. Defending a strong total of 175, the Kings were demolished early on by a storm called Hazratullah Zazai. But when they crawled their way back and needed to defend 7 off the last ball,  Sherfane Rutherford offered an easy catch at Point, he was dropped by Danish Aziz. 

In the 19th over, bowled by Mohammad Amir, a flying shot went near fine leg, but the fielder, Noor Ahmad did not commit himself to it. And finally, when just one run was required and the Karachi skipper Imad Wasim brought the field, another simple chance was created at mid-on, Thisara Perera wasn’t able to judge it and thus after many chances went begging, Zalmi managed to sneak through for a win by five wickets. 

While chasing, Zazai’s 38 balls 77 in which he hit 10 fours and five sixes had made it extremely easy for the Zalmi to sail through. However, the Kings did not give up and kept striking at the right moment to bring the equation down to 28 off 19 balls. However, Rutherford (17 off 10 balls) and Rovman Powell (1 off 3) kept their calm and saw their team through with a 13 run partnership, even as senior pro-Shoaib Malik (30 off 25 balls) fell before securing the victory for the team. 

Among the bowlers, Perera was the best of the lot going for just 10 runs in his two overs and also picking the crucial wickets of Zazai and Imam-ul-Haq. Other than him, Amir, Noor and Mohammad Ilyas picked one wicket each. 

Reacting to the loss, Karachi skipper Wasim rued missed chances but also commended his players for putting a fight every time they were asked to. “We played very good cricket but were 10-20 runs short. Bowlers bowled well, but we dropped a couple of catches. We'll come back hard next year with a different mindset,” he said. 

Earlier in the night, after winning the toss, Peshawar sent in Karachi to bat first. The Kings were given a cautious start by Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan. But Sharjeel once again failed to convert his start as the first wicket fell on 41. Martin Guptill disappointed once again, getting out for a first-ball duck. Wickets kept falling even as Babar notched up yet another fifty. But much like in earlier games, just at the time of acceleration, he got out, caught by Powell off Wahab Riaz. 

Hadn’t it been for the 18 balls 37 run and nine-ball 16 run cameos from Perera and Imad respectively, the Kings would have been defending an even lower total. 

Riaz, Mohammad Irfan and Umaid Asif picked two wickets each for Zalmi. Reacting to the victory, the 36-year-old Zalmi skipper said, “The boys put in a collective performance today, put in their all on the park and it gives me great pleasure as the captain.” 

Courtesy of this victory, the team from Peshawar would now clash with Islamabad United in the second Eliminator on June 22 at the Shiekh Zayed Stadium. The winner of this game would then enter the Finals and olay the first time finalists Multan Sultans on June 24. 

Playing mind games before the all-important second Eliminator, Wahab said, “Pressure is on Islamabad I feel because of the way in which they have played all tournament. Hopefully, we can put in another good performance tomorrow.”

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