DUBAI - Brad Hodge turned a chase that was headed nowhere into realms of possibility, and within the bat of an eyelid, blasted the ball to all corners of the Dubai Cricket Stadium. Peshawar Zalmi blew away Karachi Kings in a manic 10-minute passage to win by five wickets and move to the top of the PSL standings.
Hodge hit six fours and as many sixes in his unbeaten 45-ball 85 as Peshawar recovered from 69 for 4 in 11.5 overs to overhaul Karachi's 152 for 7 with nine balls to spare. The turning point in the chase was the 16th over, bowled by legspinner Usama Mir, where Hodge smashed a four and three successive sixes to reduce the equation to 32 off the last four overs. The next over was hit for 14, and the wheels came off Karachi's bowling unit, with Darren Sammy sealing the game with a muscular hit into the stands at deep midwicket.
It wasn't an easy ride for the Zalmi batsmen as Kings pace spearheads continued to create problems by clinching wickets in regular intervals. Peshawar started badly as the new ball pair of Mohammad Amir and Bilawal Bhatti removed the openers with the score at just 25 inside five overs. Jim Allenby, the Australian batsman, revived the innings with a 29-ball 31, but his dismissal followed by Shahid Afridi's in consecutive overs meant the chase hit a roadblock at 69 for 4.
But Peshwar were not to be denied as Hodge cashed in on the first sign of complacency from Karachi by mixing a bit of brute strength and fineness in his effort to turn the game in no time. Such was the quality of his knock that even the dismissal of Kamran Akmal, with Peshawar still needing 32, largely went unnoticed. He was declared the Man of the Match.
Having lost the game from a position of strength, Karachi will have to hope for a Lahore Qalandars win in the second match of the night to progress. Earlier, Kings came out all guns blazing but squandered a super start to be restricted to 152/7 in their must-win encounter. The Kings had raced to 83 inside 11 overs, courtesy Lendl Simmons' 49 off 37 balls before losing their way. The West Indian batsman's knock was the only solid contribution as Zalmi's emerging bowlers Hasan Ali and Imran Khan Jr put the brakes on the innings.
Ali and Imran picked up one wicket each while captain Shahid Afridi was also in fine form, returning figures of 4-27-1. Kings captain Shoaib Malik won the toss and elected to bat first as his side made three changes with Riki Wessels, Lendl Simmons and Bilawal Bhatti coming into the side. Zalmi also rung in the changes with Abdur Rehman, Hassan Ali, Imran Khan jr and Jim Allenby coming in.
Shaun Tait, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Asghar, Junaid Khan, Tamim Iqbal and Shahid Yousuf were rested.

Scoreboard

KARACHI KINGS:
L Simmons b Afridi 49
Shahzaib Hasan c Kamran Akmal b Hasan 18
M Wessels run out 3
Shoaib Malik c Imran b Aamer Yamin 15
R Bopara c & b Imran 23
Shakib Al Hasan c Rehman b Sammy 11
Bilawal Bhatti not out 15
Sohail Khan run out 7
Usama Mir not out 2
EXTRAS: (lb1, w5, nb3) 9
Total: (7 wkts; 20 overs) 152
FOW: 1-41, 2-53, 3-83, 4-97, 5-127, 6-134, 7-147
BOWLING: Aamer Yamin 3-0-21-1, Hasan Ali 4-0-27-1, Imran Khan 4-0-35-1, Shahid Afridi 4-0-27-1, Abdur Rehman 3-0-28-0, D Sammy 2-0-13-1
PESHAWAR ZALMI:
M Hafeez c Wessels b Amir 4
D Malan c Saifullah b Bilawal 8
J Allenby lbw b Usama Mir 31
B Hodge not out 85
Shahid Afridi lbw b Bilawal 5
Kamran Akmal run out 8
DJG Sammy not out 11
EXTRAS: (lb3, w3) 6
TOTAL: (5 wickets; 18.3 overs) 158
FOW: 1-4, 2-25, 3-58, 4-69, 5-121
BOWLING: M Amir 4-0-29-1, Sohail Khan 2.3-0-14-0, Bilawal Bhatti 4-0-36-2, Shakib Al Hasan 3-0-13-0, Usama Mir 4-0-47-1, R Bopara 1-0-16-0
TOSS: Karachi Kings
UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza, Shozab Raza
TV UMPIRE: J Wilson (WI)
MATCH REFEREE: R Mahanama (SL)

PSL Point Table

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied N/R Pts Net RR
Zalmi 8 6 2 0 0 12 +0.573
Gladiators 8 6 2 0 0 12 +0.216
United 8 4 4 0 0 8 -0.282
Kings 8 2 6 0 0 4 -0.036
Qalandars 8 2 6 0 0 4 -0.536