| Pakistan Super League final, Karachi |
| Lahore Qalandars 134-7 (20 overs): Tamim 35, Asif 2-18, Maqsood 2-18 |
| Karachi Kings 135-5 (18.4 overs): Babar 63*, Hussain 2-28 |
| Karachi Kings won by five wickets |
| Scorecard |
Karachi Kings won their first Pakistan Super League with a five-wicket victory over Lahore Qalandars in the final.
Babar Azam hit an unbeaten 63 off 49 balls as a Karachi side featuring England’s Alex Hales comfortably chased their target of 135 with eight balls to spare on their home ground.
Earlier, Lahore collapsed from 68-0 to 81-4 as they posted a modest 134-7.
The tournament was halted in March by the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed with the play-off stages on Saturday.
Karachi were playing in their first final, having reached the play-offs on all four occasions since the competition launched in 2016.
Lahore had finished bottom of the table in every previous tournament.
Having won the toss, Lahore started solidly through Tamim Iqbal and Fakhar Zaman, who made 35 and 27 respectively, before losing three wickets in seven balls.
Former England all-rounder Samit Patel – on the day he signed a new deal with his county side Nottinghamshire – fell for five as Karachi seamers Umaid Asif and Waqas Maqsood claimed 2-18 apiece.
Patel’s Notts team-mate Hales made 11 in Karachi’s chase but opener Babar, who was last week appointed Pakistan Test skipper to add to the limited-overs captaincy, played an elegant innings to see the side home.
There were 15 English players involved in this season’s PSL, including Chris Jordan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and Lewis Gregory, who missed the play-offs because they were selected for England’s limited-overs tour of South Africa which starts this week.
The 2021 PSL is scheduled to begin in February.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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