Islamabad United thrashed defending champions Peshawar Zalmi by three wickets in the third edition of the Pakistan Super League to lift the title for the second time.
Chasing a decent 149-run target, in-form Luke Ronchi provided a flying start for the Islamabad outfit, scoring blistering 52 of just 26 deliveries. The Australia and New Zealand international stitched 96 runs in 8.4 overs for the first wicket with Sahibzada Farhan but what followed next was an epic collapse which resulted in them losing six wickets for just 20 runs and the chasing the target became difficult.
But a little known Asif Ali joined the party as he smashed hat-trick of sixes (16th over) of Hasan Ali’s bowling to release the tension in the air, and then Farhan Ashraf hit monstrous six with just 1 needed to romp Islamabad to their second title in three years.
Darren Sammy’s decision to bat first backfired as their key man – Kamran Akmal failed to deliver when it mattered the most. At one point Akmal was batting on 1 from 8 deliveries and was sent back to pavilion on the 9th ball.
A 52-run stand for the fourth wicket from Liam Dawson and Chris Jordan and cameo from Wahab Riaz propelled the defending champions to 148/9.
Karachi, Pakistan’s southern port city, hosted a high-profile cricket match after nine years amid high security.
The final at the National stadium was played under a packed 33,000 crowd, including Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
Karachi will now host T20 World Champions West Indies in a three-match T20 series which is schedule to be played on April 1,2 and 3.