Karachi Kings got off to a dream start after opting to bowl first as Shoaib Malik struck down Saim Ayub on the very first ball of the match with a well-executed arm ball. Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali further added to Peshawar Zalmi's misery by getting rid of Mohammad Haris and Tom-Kohler Cadmore for cheap respectively to leave Peshawar reeling at 42/3 at the end of the powerplay. As is often the case, the onus fell on Babar Azam's shoulders to rescue the team from the precarious situation and he proved equal to the task. The skipper eclipsed the major milestone of 10,000 career T20 runs with a boundary in the second over and later brought up a 37-ball half-century in the 12th over with a gorgeous maximum over Tabraiz Shamsi's head. His 68-run partnership with Rovman Powell followed by a 28-run stand with Asif Ali had flipped the momentum back in Peshawar's favour but as it turned out, no other player in the team apart from these three could cross over into double digits. Hamza got rid of both Babar and Aamer Jamaal in the 18th over before Hasan wrapped up the innings for 154 with two more blows in the final over, while Daniel Sams also finished with exemplary figures of 2/28.

In response, Muhammad Akhlaq achieved lift-off right from the word go in the second innings as he locked in on Mohamamd Zeeshan and shredded the right-arm quick to bits, his first two overs costing an ungodly 32 runs. Luke Wood at the other end, however, was at his sensational best and got rid of both openers Akhlaq and Shan Masood apart from a maiden in the powerplay to keep the six-over score down to 48/2. The newly arrived batters James Vince and Shoaib Malik steadily built a half-century partnership thereon but the required run rate began creeping up. Malik tried to whittle down the remainder of 64 runs by dancing down the track immediately after the strategic timeout at the start of the 13th over, only to be comprehensively stumped for a run-a-ball 29. However, Kieron Pollard declared his intentions right away by heaving one across the rope on his first ball and the chase turned out to be a mere formality thereon, as his unbeaten 21-ball 49 got the job done in just 16.5 overs.

🚨 POLLY CARNAGE IN LAHORE 🚨



Karachi Kings are cruising to victory 🙌#HBLPSL9 | #KhulKeKhel | #PZvKK pic.twitter.com/mfTiwXPVhv

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 21, 2024

Polly going crazy

Kieron Pollard destroying Peshawar Zalmi. 🔥#PSL9 | #PZvsKKpic.twitter.com/WtqYZyF71y

— Murphy (@I_am_Murphy__) February 21, 2024

Superb

Pollard in absolute beast mode 🔥🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/X2LvIoCUlP

— PakPassion.net (@PakPassion) February 21, 2024

LOL