Martin Guptill was brilliant tonight, he didn't bat an eye and made sure he gets them over the line. It was a quintessential match winning knock from the seasoned campaigner. There were moments when he was struggling against the spin but he waited for the pacers to come back into the attack and then decimated them for some cracking boundaries.
Imad Wasim was aiming for 180 at the toss and they got a little short of that target. Kings removed Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed, Najibullah Zadran and Umar Akmal in single figures but they couldn't find a way to uncouple Guptill and Sarfaraz (who batted with a finger injury) and that partnership kept Quetta in the hunt.
Imad Wasim copped a blow on his foot and bowled only one over tonight and not bowling his full quota of overs released some pressure off Guptil. Credit to Karachi Kings for putting the squeeze on and not letting them get off the hook in the middle overs but they end up crestfallen again and they are now officially out of the race for playoffs.
Thanks for joining us, peeps. On that note, it's time for me, Rvel Zahid, to say goodbye and goodnight!
IPL Super selec: "One thing CSK alumni lacks is PRESSURE :)"
Malik: "Well its another painful season for us Karachi fans... maybe next year?"
Peter : "Excellent innings by Sarfaraz! He knew it was a pitch that you had to grind out the runs. The others came and went while slogging. "
ali: "@AZMAT so much so for good captaincy by Imad Wasim"
Ali: "So this is what Guptill is trying to do when tried to slow down and anchor the innings. Wondered for long about his slowing strategy. Made sense today"
Afeef: "Martin Guptill loves batting against Karachi Kings "
Rakesh: "Applause for Sarfaraz. At least he has his cricket brain right and he summed up the situation in a flash and despite the horrible situation, kept his head and ran himself out knowing very well that in current form, Guptill has the best chance of giving them a victory."
Mamoon: "Waiting for some KK fan to say KK has been again UNLUCKY......If you lose 7 out of 9 it's not always LUCK that is going against you while KK was in a comfortable winning position in at least 3 or 4 of those games....
Omar: "that drop in cricinfo's win predictor is insane. "
Zain: "For all the complaints against Sarfraz, what about how poor Imad's captaincy was there? Fuller was clearly struggling, why not go to your main bowlers!!! End if before over 20, very poor!!"
Jibran: "Resident of Islamabad, supporter of Lahore Qalanders, sitting in Karachi and praying for Quetta to Win."
IPL Super Selec: "In the span of 6 balls, Guptill has killed Cricinfo probablity, umpteen hate towards QG and equal hope for KK and all more important, boosted his self confidence after missing the NZ spot and having had a poor PSL to start with :)"
Wajid Jawaid : "What does Guptill have against KK? Ok KK released him, but this is the norm in franchise cricket. "
Cracking late cut!
Sarfaraz Ahmed run out 29 (48m 25b 1x4 0x6) SR: 116.00
END OF OVER:19 | 11 Runs | QG: 157/5 (8 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 8.26, RRR: 8.00)
- Sarfaraz Ahmed28 (24b)
- Martin Guptill86 (55b)
- Mohammad Amir4-0-37-0
- Muhammad Musa4-0-44-1
END OF OVER:18 | 14 Runs | QG: 146/5 (19 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.11, RRR: 9.50)
- Sarfaraz Ahmed24 (21b)
- Martin Guptill80 (52b)
- Muhammad Musa4-0-44-1
- James Fuller4-0-38-1
END OF OVER:17 | 24 Runs | QG: 132/5 (33 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.76, RRR: 11.00)
- Martin Guptill73 (49b)
- Sarfaraz Ahmed17 (18b)
- James Fuller4-0-38-1
- Mohammad Amir3-0-26-0
Flown to the moon!