Karachi Kings 188 for 4 (Ingram 127*, Tanvir 2-21) beat Quetta Gladiators 186 for 5 (Umar 55, Rossouw 44, Aamer 3-37) by six wickets
How the game unfolded
Chasing 187, Karachi Kings were 4 for 2 before Colin Ingram‘s record-breaking knock stunned Quetta Gladiators and took his side home with six wickets and eight balls to spare. The left-hand batsman smashed 12 fours and eight sixes during his unbeaten 59-ball 127, surpassing Sharjeel Khan’s 117 as the highest individual score in the PSL history. With that, Gladiators’ unbeaten streak of four games also came to a halt.
After being put in, Umar Akmal‘s 37-ball 55 led Gladiators’ charge for the most part of the innings. He was well supported by Rilee Rossouw and the two added 63 for the third wicket in just 6.5 overs. Umar eventually fell to Aamer Yamin on the third ball of the 19th over with score still 156, but late hitting from Anwar Ali took Gladiators to 186. However, that didn’t prove enough in the end.
Turning points
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Gladiators were 119 for 2 at the end of 13 overs, with Umar and Rossouw just brought up the 50-run stand. However, only nine runs came from the next three overs, with Aamer dismissing Rossouw for 44 in the 14th.
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Anwar Ali came to bat in the 19th over of the Gladiators’ innings but didn’t take any time to settle in. He smashed three sixes off the first three deliveries he faced before hitting another off the last ball of the innings to finish on 27 not out off just six.
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At the end of the 12th over during the chase, Kings were 91 for 3 with the required rate having climbed up to 12. But Ingram struck four sixes and three fours in the next two overs – bowled by Ghulam Mudassar and Mohammad Nawaz – to bring down the equation to 54 needed off 36 balls.
Star of the day
With no other batsman in the side crossing 20, Ingram was the undisputed star of the day. He came to the crease in the second over of the chase, with both Babar Azam and Colin Munro back in the hut. The first ten balls he faced produced only nine runs but the next 21 brought 41. Nawaz was carted for three successive sixes in the 14th over, while one off Mudassar went out of the stadium. With nine needed off ten balls, Ingram struck Anwar for a four and a six to take Kings to an improbable victory.
The big miss
Babar and Munro are two of the best batsmen in T20 cricket. And if the side is chasing a stiff target, one would expect a big contribution from at least one of them. However, Sohail Tanvir removed Babar on the first ball of the chase, while Nawaz accounted for Munro when the batsman has made just three.
Where the teams stand
Despite the loss, Gladiators are still at the top of the points table with eight points. But Kings rose from the bottom of the table to the fifth spot, tied on points with Lahore Qalandars with both teams having two wins from five games.
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