Peshawar Zalmi moved from one extreme to the other, falling to 2 for 3 in the first 2.2 overs before exploding for 195 for 2 in the final 17.4 overs to defeat Karachi Kings in Rawalpindi with ease.
As Mohammad Amir splashed some of his magic dust, Babar Azam and Mohammad Haris were eliminated in the first over, starting everything off what feels like a very long time ago.
Haseebullah Khan, a 19-year-old PSL newcomer, entered an inning that was in need of comfort and went on to provide it. He made his debut with a 29-ball fifty in which five of his first eleven scoring shots were boundaries.
He was a member of Pakistan’s most recent Under-19 World Cup team. Although Haseebullah just had 12 to his name in the sixth over, some of this carnage would have been avoided had Akif Javed been able to hold onto a straightforward catch, but such is life.
Then Rovman Powell joined in on the fun and scored 64 off just 34 balls, Karachi’s ideal start quickly turned into a complete nightmare.
All total, he was able to smash a boundary once every three or four balls while he was there, hitting six fours and four sixes. Javed (14+21), Amir (12), and Aamer Yamin’s final four overs contributed 65 runs, or 33% of the total, to the score (18). Tom Kohler-Cadmore also assisted himself to a half century in the midst of all of that.
By the end of the P-powerplay, Matthew Wade had moved up to 37 from 26 as Karachi had started their pursuit well. Even at that early stage of the innings, he had already benefited from two lives: once when he was on 1 (caught behind but not reviewed), and later when he was on 19. (dropped).
Karachi had hoped that those were indications that their luck was about to change, but it was not to be. As Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Azmatullah Omarzai took over in the middle overs, collecting a combined 5 for 56 from their full limit, they went from being 40 for 0 to being 95 for 5.
Imad Wasim (57 not out off 30 balls) made a special threat, but even after hitting five fours in one over, his team needed 37 runs going into the final over, which is usually not possible in a cricket tournament.
Karachi Kings 173 for 8 (Imad 57*, Wade 53, Omarzai 3-28) were defeated by Peshawar Zalmi 197 for 5 (Powell 64, Kohler-Cadmore 56*, Haseebullah 50, Amir 4-26) by 24 runs.