Daren Sammy top scored for the Zouks as he continued to dominate the matches played in a stadium named after him, but it wasn’t enough for him to keep a perfect record at the ground as Akmal won this game on his own.
Brendon McCullum and William Perkins got the chase of 168 for victory underway for the Knight Riders, but both fell inside the PowerPlay.
There was a recovery of sorts courtesy of New Zealander Colin Munro but he rode his luck while he was there and was gone for just 21. When Denesh Ramdin went in the same over for four it meant there were two batsmen at the crease who were yet to get off the mark after three wickets fell for 11 runs in the space of 12 balls.
And when the Knight Riders were reeling at 63-5 in the 10th over, it looked like the game was over for the Knight Riders.
Akmal, howver, had other ideas as he hit some cracking shots on his way to 73 off just 35 balls. His partnership with Anton Devcich brought the Knight Riders back into the match and when Devcich went Akmal was well supported by Sunil Narine as they reached their victory target with six balls to spare.
Akmal hit seven sixes in his innings along with three fours.
Akmal was awarded Man of the Match for his match-winning knock. During the post-match presentation, he spoke (rather tried) in English and it was hilarious. Usually, players who can't converse in English, take help of another player in translating the comments.
Later, Akmal was seen partying and dancing with Dwayne Bravo.