Imam-ul-Haq's 56-run knock helped Peshawar Zalmi defeat Karachi Kings by 44 runs in their 2019 Pakistan Super League (PSL) fixture at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
The Kings, who were chasing a target of 154 runs, finished with a score of 109-9 at the end of 20 overs.
Peshawar's innings
Ending their innings with a six, Zalmi were 153-8 at the end of 20 overs with man-of-the-match Imam-ul-Haq leading the scoreboard at 56 runs followed by LA Dawson at 43.
A thrilling eighth over of play bowled by Kings' Sikandar Raza ended with two wickets and zero runs added to the scoreboard. Raza took the wickets of Zalmi's Umar Amin and Wayne Madsen.
Usman Shinwari also claimed two wickets for the Kings' while Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Aamer Yamin took a wicket each. Yamin took Kamran Akmal's wicket for a duck.
The PSL noted on Twitter that Akmal has now been dismissed for zero on 24 occasions, making him level with his brother Umar Akmal for the not-so-exemplary record of second most ducks in T20I. Only Dwayne Smith has been dismissed for zero runs more number of times.
Karachi's innings
The Kings were 69/5 at the end of 13 overs in pursuit of the 154-run target set by Zalmi.
Imad Wasim and top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan were desperate to put runs on the scoreboard, but their 26- and 32-run contributions failed to take their team to the finishing line.
Hasan Ali shined for Zalmi in the bowling area, taking four wickets. Umaid Asif, Wahab Riaz and Kieron Pollard finished with a wicket each.
With Rizwan and Usman Shinwari still on the pitch, the Kings finished the match with a score of 109-9 at the end of their allotted 20 overs.
At the outset of the game, Karachi had won the toss and elected to bowl first.
There were two changes to the Kings' squad with Sohail Khan and Ravi Bopara out. Zalmi was playing the same squad as in their previous match.
Both teams went into the match after having won one and losing the other match they have played in PSL 2019. Zalmi won against Lahore Qalandars and lost against Quetta Gladiators. Kings won their first match of PSL 4 against Multan Sultans but lost against Qalandars.
Line-ups:
Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Liam Livingstone, Colin Ingram, Ben Dunk, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Aamer Yamin, Sikandar Raza, Imad Wasim (capt), Mohammad Amir, Umer Khan, Usman Shinwari
Peshawar Zalmi: Kamran Akmal, Imam-ul-Haq, Umar Amin, Wayne Madsen, Kieron Pollard, Liam Dawson, Darren Sammy, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Umaid Asif, Ibtisam Shaikh