Babar, Nabi and Afridi make it 13 in 13 for the chasing side
news desk
KARACHI
Karachi Kings on Wednesday beat Peshawar Zalmi by six wickets to dethrone them as league leaders in Pakistan Super League’s match 13.
Karachi Kings were given a target of 189 runs by the Peshawar Zalmi and the home team chased it with three balls to spare.
The Kings were in trouble early in the innings when they lost three wickets for 43 runs by the end of the seventh over.
But a 118-run partnership between Babar Azam and Mohmmad Nabi helped the Kings secure victory. Babar Azam remained unbeaten, scoring 77 runs off 47 balls.
The Kings lost Mohammad Nabi after he made 67 during the 17th over with the team still requiring 28 runs from 21 balls. However, Babar Azam did not let that hinder the team’s chances for a victory.
Earlier, Peshawar were asked to bat first by Karachi Kings after Imad Wasim won the toss.
Peshawar were looking to set a below par score after they lost three wickets in the powerplay at just 39 runs due to the two-wicket over by debutant Abbas Afridi. Till the 10th over Karachi Kings looked like in command at the end of when Peshawar were 69/4 and had lost Haider Ali just when he was looking to charge.
However, an 82-run partnership between West Indian Sherfane Rutherford and Englishman Ravi Bopara had taken the game away from Karachi’s position.
Rutherford fell to Mohammad Ilyas in the 18th over but by that time the stage was set for Amad Butt to propel the Peshawar Zalmi to 188.
The all rounder hit Dan Christian for 32 runs at the last over to help his side put up a defendable total.
PCB bans franchise owners’ dugout, say sources
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has put in place new coronavirus SOPs in place, a day after three more persons in the bio-secure bubble tested positive for coronavirus.
Sources told Geo News that the cricket board has banned franchise owners’ dugout at the stadium.
During the matches, families of franchise owners used to sit at the dugout, confirmed sources.
The PCB has spoken to the hotel management and instructed it to ensure the new SOPs are implemented.
The cricket board has beefed up precautions a day after it confirmed that three more persons — two foreign cricketers and a member of the local support staff — tested positive for the virus.
“We conducted 244 PCR tests, in addition to the rapid tests conducted,” Sami ul Hasan Burni, the PCB’s Media Director, had said during a news conference on Tuesday. “Of the 244 tests, three have come back positive. Two foreign players and one support staff have tested positive,” he added.
Burni had said that all three persons had been isolated from the rest, adding that they were being quarantined at a different floor on the hotel.
He said that all other people who are in the bio-secure bubble will be retested for the virus on Thursday. “At the moment, more than 300 people are in the bubble,” he had said. “These include players, officials, support staff, franchise owners and security officials,” he had said.
