DUBAI — Powered by a stroke-filled innings by Brad Hodge, Peshawar Zalmi defeated Karachi Kings by five wickets and jumped to the top of the standings in PSL here Wednesday.
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 leg-spinner Usama Mir, where Hodge smashed a four and three successive sixes to reduce the equation to 32 off the last four overs.
Darren Sammy sealed the game with a powerful hit into the stands. Earlier, Lendl Simmons, top scored with 49 and held the innings together for a while, before it fell apart as one batsman after another was dismissed in a quest to up the ante. The second-highest scorer of the innings was Ravi Bopara, who made a 22-ball 23 to swell the total to 152-7.
After the fall of openers Peshawar innings was revived by Jim Allenby with a 29-ball 31, but his dismissal followed by Shahid Afridi's pushed the side to 69 for 4. However, it found a savior in Hodge, who turned things around.
Scores:
Karachi 152-7 (Simmons 49, Bopara 23, S. Hasan 18). Peshawar 158-5 in 18.3 overs (Allenby 31, Hodge 85 not out; B. Bhatti 2-36).
Gladiators win
On Tuesday, Quetta Gladiators defeated Lahore Qalandars by 2 wickets. In a high-scoring match, which saw both the teams score over 200 runs, Mohammad Nabi emerged the hero for Quetta, striking a last-ball four for victory.
Before Nabi's 12-ball 30, there were other vital contributions from Kevin Pietersen (34), Bismillah Khan (55), Kumar Sangakkara (37) and Sarfraz Ahmed (21).
Earlier, Lahore's 201 for 2 was built on the back of rapid half-centuries from Chris Gayle, Azhar Ali and Umar Akmal. Gayle slammed a 34-ball 60, Azhar contributed with 61 off 45 balls, while unbeaten Akmal (55) provided the late thrust.
Scores:
Lahore 201-2 (Gayle 60, Azhar Ali 61, U. Akmal 55 not out, Bravo 20 not out).
Quetta 203-8 (B. Khan 55, K. Pietersen 34, Sangakkara 37, S. Ahmed 21, Md Nabi 30; E. Adil 4-39, Bravo 3-30).
