Babar Azam’s outstanding innings in PSL 2020 Final led Karachi Kings to their maiden Pakistan Super League (PSL) title after a five-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars in the at the National Stadium, Karachi on Tuesday.

Babar Azam pose with Man of Match, Tournament & PSL 2020 Trophies – PCB Media

While chasing a small target on a tricky pitch, Azam played a remarkable knock of 63 not out off 49 balls as Kings chased down the target in the 19th over at the expense of five wickets.

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The Imad Wasim-led side defeated Lahore Qalandars in the final by five wickets at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Babar Azam recorded his fifth half-century of the PSL 2020 edition, which was studded with seven fours. Karachi Kings chased down the 135-run target with eight balls to spare.

Full Match Highlights | Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings | Final Match | HBL PSL 2020 | MB2L

Kings were provided a steady start as Babar added 23 and 26 runs for the first and second wicket with Sharjeel Khan (13 off 12) and Alex Hales (run-a-ball 11). After that, he stitched a 61-run stand for the third wicket with Chadwick Walton (22 off 27) and that settled the game in his side’s favour.
With 11 runs left in the last three overs, Haris Rauf took two back to back wickets as he dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed (four off six) and Shane Rutherford (0) to give Qalandars a glimpse of hope, but Kings’ captain Imad Wasim took his side home with an unbeaten knock of 10 runs.

Babar finished as the highest run-getter of the PSL 2020 tournament with 473 runs at an impressive average of 59.12 and a strike rate of 124.14.

Earlier, Qalandars had managed only 134 runs at the loss of seven wickets after their captain Sohail Akhtar elected to bat first. The opening pair of Tamim Iqbal and Fakhar Zaman provided a cautious start with a 68-run stand from 67 balls.

The two, however, failed to build on it as they were dismissed in a span of four balls by Umaid Asif in the 11th over. Problems compounded further when Mohammad Hafeez (2) got out trying to slog Imad Wasim as Qalandars lost three wickets for two runs in seven balls.

From there on, Qalandars lost wickets at regular intervals as Samit Patel (five off eight), Ben Dunk (11 off 14), and Sohail (run-a-ball 14) fell in the 14th, 16th, and 19th overs.

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That Qalandars’ bowlers had something to bowl at was because of Shaheen who helped his side gather 15 runs off the last over.

Brief Scores: Karachi Kings 135/5 (Babar Azam 63, Chadwick Walton 22, Dilbar Hussain 2-28) defeat Lahore Qalandars 134/7 (Tamim Iqbal 35, Fakhar Zaman 27, Waqas Maqsood 2-18) by five wickets. 

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