An 85-run partnership for the fourth-wicket between Sarfaraz Ahmed and Azam Khan secured a five-wicket win for Quetta Gladiators against Karachi Kings in the sixth HBL PSL 2020 fixture at Karachi’s National Stadium yesterday. 
Defending champions Gladiators chased down the 157-run target with an over spare.
Azam top-scored in the run chase with a 30-ball 46 and struck four fours and two sixes. He was declared player of the match for his match-defining innings.
Sarfaraz, the Gladiators captain, was not out on 37 which came off 28 balls.
With 27 off 20, which included two fours and two sixes, Shane Watson was the other notable run-getter.
Earlier, pacer Mohamed Hasnain took three wickets for 33 runs and Tymal Mills returned two for 30 which limited the home side to 156 for nine after Karachi Kings’ captain Imad Wasim elected to bat.
Iftikhar Ahmed, batting at six, struck two fours and six in his 25 off 18 towards the end of the innings to take his side to a competitive total. Alex Hales, playing his first HBL PSL match this season, was the top-scorer in Kings’ innings with a 27-ball 29, which included a four ad a six. The second best performance, in terms of runs, came from Babar Azam who hit five fours in his 23-ball stay at the crease which brought him 26 runs. Quetta Gladiators now have two wins this season and they travel to Rawalpindi to take on Islamabad United in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Karachi Kings play Multan Sultans at the latter’s home on Friday.


United win by 1 wicket
Shadab Khan followed up his magical spell of bowling with a stupendous knock as Islamabad United narrowly edged their way across the finishing line in a riveting contest against Lahore Qalandars.
Islamabad’s last pair of Ahmed Safi Abdullah and Mohamed Musa held their nerve to stitch a brilliant 20-run stand to knock off the winning runs amidst the chaotic run chase. The match swung frantically swung from one side to the other with Qalandars bottling several chances in an abysmal show in the field.
Costly errors including Usman Shinwari’s wicket of half-centurion Shadab off a no-ball and Samit Patel’s drop of Asif Ali were further compounded by wayward lines and lengths as the sloppy Qalandars were left ruing their mistakes.