Karachi Kings dominated the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final as they beat Lahore Qalandars by five wickets to lift their first ever PSL trophy at National Stadium Karachi.
Karachi Kings left arm fast bowler Muhammad Waqas brilliant overs and a classy unbeaten knock (63) by Babar Azam stirred Kings to seal the maiden PSL title.
Lahore Qalandars won the toss and decided to bat first and set a target of 134-7 in the final match of PSL fifth edition.
While chasing the low score, Karachi Kings reached the 135-run target with eight balls remaining at National Stadium Karachi.
Karachi Kings started their innings comfortably as opener Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan both hit boundaries, however, Sharjeel Khan lost his wicket to Samit Patel in fourth over after making 13 runs. Walton came after Sharjeel departure and assisted Babar Azam to reach 100 runs but fell short after scoring 22 in 27 balls by Dilbar Hussain.
Karachi Kings were 124-3 when Haris Rauf took back to back wickets and sent back Iftikhar and Rutherford back to pavilion. Salman Iqbal’s Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim took the charge and hit the boundary to end the match and lift their maiden PSL trophy.
Pakistan Super League 2020 champion Karachi Kings have devoted the victory to their late Australian coach Dean Jones who lost his life a few months back.
PSL Awards
Babar Azam was named Player of the HBL PSL 2020 after Karachi Kings managed to defeat Rana Fawad’s Lahore Qalandars by five wickets and raised their maiden trophy since PSL events were initialized in 2016.
Babar Azam finished the tournament on a very high note as he scored 473 runs in HBL PSL 2020 edition.
After Ravi Bopara, Babar is the second Karachi Kings batsman to grab the Player of the Tournament award. Ravi Bopara scored 329 runs and took 11 wickets in 2016 PSL edition.
The Best Bowler of HBL PSL award went to Lahore Qalandars Shaheen Shah Afridi as he took 17 wickets, at a strike rate of 16.4 and with an economy rate of 7.11.
Lahore Qalandars Ben Duck was named the best wicketkeeper of HBL PSL 2020 as he dismissed 9 batsmen from behind.
Haider Ali was announced as the emerging player of the HBL PSL 2020. The 20-year-old displayed a justifiable performance in the first half of the tournament that also earned him a call-up in the Pakistan main team. Haider Ali scored 329 runs with a strike rate of 157.23.
The Best Fielder award went to Fakhar Zaman for his outstanding fielding that helped save critical runs, apart from that he also finished with 10 catches.
