DUBAI-Karachi Kings maintained their 100 percent record intact, as they edged past current PSL champions Peshawar Zalmi by 5 wickets in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) match played here at Dubai International Stadium on late Sunday night.

Sammy won the toss and decided to bat first on a perfect batting track, as sky was clear and there was no threat of rain coming down again, which continued to fall in patches during the entire day. Zalmi started brightly as both explosive openers Tamim Iqbal and Kamran Akmal looked confident and hungry for runs.

Imad Wasim opted to bowl the first over, but it was M Aamir, who immediately made a huge impact, was aggressive, pumped up and wanted to deliver. He softened up both Akmal and Tamim with short-pitch deliveries and soon he provided the breakthrough, when Kamran was back in the pavilion at the total of 16. Then it was Tamim Iqbal’s turn and Zalmi were in complete disarray as Aamir was bowling with lot of fire and looking highly dangerous. Zalmi batsmen had no answers to Aamir’s hostile bowling and they were simply looking out of sorts. The wickets were falling like nine pins and the batsmen were coming and going thick and fast.

When wickets were trembling, it was ever-reliable Dwayne Smith, who stood his ground and batted with lot of authority and kept the one-end intact. Smith was not only making runs, but he also ensured that scoreboard might keep on ticking at fast pace. Kings has body-blow, as Aamir left the field limping, it was the turning point of the match, as Kings were just on rampage and looked all set to bowl out Zalmi’s within 100, Imad was running out of options, despite the fact, Zalmi had lost 8 wickets with only 79 runs on the board and 15.4 overs gone, things were looking highly grim.

But Smith stood his ground as he was fully aware of the fact that at one stage, Imad had to use part-timer and just kept on waiting for the right moment. Zalmi didn’t help their cause, as three batsmen got run out and Smith was involved in all three of them, who include Ibtisam Sheikh, Darren Sammy and Wahab Riaz. All were victims of Smith’s wrong judgment and were needlessly got run out.

But Smith made amendments of his role in run-outs by playing highly responsible innings. He made unbeaten 71 consuming 51 deliveries with the help of 4 boundaries and 5 sixes. Zalmi posted 52 runs in 26 deliveries, as from a very disappointing score of 79-8, they managed to post decent total of 131-9 in 20 overs. Besides Smith, Kamran Akmal hit 14 and Tamim Iqbal 11. It was M Aair, who ripped through Zalmi top order and captured 2-6 in only 2 overs, while Afridi captured 2-22.

Karachi Kings should have easily won the match inside 18 overs, but they continued to stretch and make things difficult for them. Explosive opener Khurram Manzoor faile to impress and got out cheaply. There were a few contributions from top order but all batsmen got out after starting well and settling down. Denly made 29, Babar Azam 28 and Ingram 23. It was sensational effort from M Hafeez, who pulled off world-class catch at mid-wicket off the bowling of Ibtisam Sheikh to remove Ingram, who was looking very dangerous.

Kings were simply wasting too many precious deliveries as they required 7 runs in last 12 deliveries with 6 wickets in hand. Wicketkeeper M Rizwan just gifted his wicket trying to become a hero. Kings then required 5 in the last over and they needed 4 in 3 balls. Imad was at the crease and put the ball out of the park to settle nerves and carved out 5-wicket win with two balls to spare.

Young leg spinner Ibtisam Sheikh and Jordan shared two wickets each for Zalmi. Smith was named player of the match for his unbeaten 71. Only one match will be played today (Monday) between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars at 8pm local time.

It was as expected electrifying environment witnessed in the stadium, as the spectators gradually thronged the venue to witness their hero Boom Boom Afridi, who still is a crowd-puller and enjoy tremendous fan-following around the globe and especially in this part of the world, as a lot of Pakhtoons live in UAE and adjacent areas. It was highly passionate and by far best attendance witnessed so far in the PSL-3, as seats were fast occupied by the supporters mainly of Peshawar Zalmi, while the occasion has huge significance as well. Afridi was for the first time facing his old team Zalmi, whom he left this year.

Zalmi owners had distributed t-shirts among the crowd and hired a lot of top showbiz stars, including brand ambassador Mahira Khan, famous artist Hamza Ali Abbasi but the main thing, which goes in Zalmi’s favour was the Pakhtoon factor. Pathans, as expected, were in great number to support Zalmi, but they never turned their backs on their hero Afridi, who still enjoys tremendous support within Zalmi fans.