The Pakistan Super League 2020 crown was won by a new team today as Karachi Kings defeated Lahore Qalandars by five wickets on Tuesday to end their long drought of lifting the trophy and winning their maiden PSL title at the famous National Stadium, Karachi. Both teams were playing their first-ever PSL final but in the end it was Karachi Kings who emerged winners of one of Pakistan's most loved T20 tournaments. PSL, that started in the year 2016 is dubbed as the biggest T20 tournament in Pakistan.
For Karachi, Babar Azam (49-ball 63 runs) and Chadwick Walton (27-ball 22 runs) were the star performers with the bat as they played an extremely well-timed knock on the sluggish Karachi surface to help their team pull themselves back into the game after getting jolted by early blows and in power them to their maiden title win in PSL. Babar Azam, who scored a heroic half-century tonight, has now scored 50-plus score in his last six innings for Karachi Kings and Pakistan!
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PSL Final, 1st Innings: Bowlers Shine As Karachi Kings Restrict Lahore Qalandars To 134/7
Karachi Kings speedsters Waqas Maqsood, Umaid Asif, and Arshad Iqbal captured two wickets each to restrict Lahore Qalandars to 134 for seven wickets in 20 overs in the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Tuesday evening.
After a solid opening stand, Lahore lost three wickets in quick succession. Karachi stalled Lahore's progress by making an excellent comeback in death overs. The Karachi bowlers were so good that they did not let Lahore manage get anywhere near 150, a challenging total on the tricky track.
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Lahore won the toss and opted to bat first against Karachi at the National Stadium. Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal was the highest run-getter for Lahore, who scored 35 off 38 balls while Fakhar Zaman was the next highest scoring batsman with a 24-ball 27.
The PSL had started on February 20 and 30 and matches were played until March 15, when the tournament was stopped due to Covid-19 pandemic. The playoffs began on Saturday.
Playing XI (Both teams)
Karachi Kings Playing XI: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Alex Hales, Chadwick Walton (wk), Imad Wasim (c), Iftikhar Ahmed, Sherfane Rutherford, Umaid Asif, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal
Lahore Qalandars Playing XI: Tamim Iqbal, Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar (c), Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Muhammad Faizan, Samit Patel, David Wiese, Dilbar Hussain, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf