West Indian batsman hit two sixes off the last two balls as Lahore Qalandars failed to defend 155.

By Abdullah Ansari (25th February, 2016)

Karachi Kings Team

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

Lahore Qalandars Team

Cameron Delport, Brendon McCullum*, Fakhar Zaman, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Grant Elliott, Aamer Yamin, Sunil Narine, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan Jr.

Sangakkara won the toss and opted to field as Karachi took the big decision of dropping Gayle after a prolonged run of poor scores. Amir struck in the first over to remove Delport with a bouncer as Sangakkara took a stunning diving catch. McCullum was a bit subdued while Fakhar went after the spinners before he fell to Sohail Khan. Usama was attacked in his first over and went for runs but hit back by dismissing McCullum for 31. Narine was promoted and hit a couple of sixes before he was dismissed by Malik. Umar Akmal then threw it away while Elliott fell to Malik as well as the innings faltered. Rizwan and Tanvir batted through, taking their time then finishing well with 46 off the last four overs as Lahore made 155/6.

Babar and Jayawardene started aggressively with 27 off the first 3 overs but the latter was run out after a direct hit by Rizwan. Babar hit occasional fours to keep the required rate in check but Sangakkara struggled until Elliott came on to bowl - a big over gave Karachi some breathing space. However, Sangakkara fell to Narine as he top edged one followed by Babar throwing it away for 49, caught in the deep off Fakhar. A superb bit of fielding topped off by a direct hit by Zafar Gohar saw Bopara run out but McCullum bowled an expensive over as the equation became 54 off 5 overs. Yamin nailed another direct hit to get Malik. Imad and Pollard brought the equation down to 28 off the last 2 overs and some further hard running between the wickets made it 14 off the last over. That became 10 off 2 balls after which Pollard nailed a six over extra cover, followed by one on the legside on the last ball to seal a stunning victory as he finished on 45* off just 20 balls.

Next match: Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators

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