In a thrilling encounter, Karachi Kings beat Lahore Qalandars by five wickets in the 18th fixture of the Pakistan Super League which was played at the Dubai Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Saturday.

Kieron Pollard played a blistering knock of 45 off just 20 balls, seeing Karachi Kings home on the last ball of the match.

Kings required 14 runs in the final over to chase down the 156-run target set by Qalandars, and Pollard did it in style by smashing a six on the last ball.

Batting first, Qalandars had scored 155 runs for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, Karachi Kings swiftly pursued the target. Opener Babar Azam lead the chase for Kings, scoring 49 off 42 ball, which included seven boundaries.

Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan and skipper Brendon McCullum were the leading run scorers for Qalandars with 32 and 31 runs respectively.

Both teams are sporting one change each as Kings have replaced Chris Gayle by Mahela Jayawardene while Mohammad Irfan (Jr) is filling in for Ghulam Mudassar in the Qalandars' lineup.

This is a crucial match as the result would determine if the Qalandars make it to the play-offs.

Karachi Kings' squad

• Babar Azam
• Kumar Sangakkara (C)
• Mahila Jayawardene
• Shoaib Malik
• Kevin Pollard
• R Bopara
• Imad Wasim
• Sohail Khan
• Mohammad Amir
• Usama Mir
• Usman Khan

Lahore Qalandars' squad

• C Delport
• B McCullum (c)
• Fakhar Zaman
• Umar Akmal
• Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
• G Elliott
• S Narine
• Aamer Yamin
• Sohail Tanvir
• Yasir Shah
• Mohammad Irfan