Karachi, November 18: Babar Azam played an unbeaten knock of 63 runs on Tuesday to steer Karachi Kings to their maiden Pakistan Super League (PSL) title. 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 2020 PSL edition, which was studded with seven fours. Karachi Kings chased down the 135-run target with eight balls to spare. Also Read | How to Watch Croatia vs Portugal UEFA Nations League 2020-21 Live Streaming Online in India? Get Free Live Telecast of CRO vs POR & Football Score Updates on TV.

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. Also Read | PSL 2020 Final: Karachi Kings Beat Lahore Qalandars By Five Wickets To Lift Maiden Title.

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 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. 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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