RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Fast bowler Hasan Ali grabbed 4-15 as Karachi Kings kept alive their slim hopes of a playoff spot in the Pakistan Super League with a thumping seven-wicket win over Quetta Gladiators on Wednesday.
Hasan intelligently varied his pace to bowl out Quetta for this season’s lowest total of 118 in 19.1 overs after captain Shan Masood won the toss and elected to field.
Karachi cruised to 121-3 with more than four overs to spare with opening batter Tim Siefert (49) notching the top score of the game.
Quetta are still among the top two with nine points from seven matches while Karachi are at No. 5 with six points from three wins and four defeats.
Blessing Muzarabani (2-27) gave Karachi an early breakthrough when Jason Roy (15) top-edged the tall Zimbabwean fast bowler to Hasan at third man in the third over.
Hasan then struck twice in his first over when Saud Shakeel (33) and Khawaja Nafay (17) holed out in the deep as Quetta slipped to 3-68 in the ninth over.
Former Quetta captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s struggling season continued as he was run out for 7 in a mix-up with new skipper Rilee Rossouw while going for a tight single.
Sarfaraz, who was relieved of the captaincy after Quetta failed to got beyond the league stage in the last four seasons, had scored only 22 runs in five innings.
Rossouw also couldn’t accelerate against pace and spin in the middle overs before holing out in leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood’s (2-25) return spell. Hasan then disguised the lower order with his change of pace and claimed two more wickets in his last over.
Masood’s run of poor form continued in his first season as the Karachi skipper edged Mohammad Amir in the second over when on 7.
But Karachi’s overseas signings Seifert and James Vince (27) played confidently against pace and were hardly troubled by mystery spinner Usman Tariq. Quetta was also wasteful in the field with Sherfane Rutherford and Amir dropping sitters in the outfield.
Seifert smashed six fours and two sixes before he missed out on the half century and was stumped but veteran Shoaib Malik carried Karachi to a convincing victory with an unbeaten 27 off 20 balls.