Captain David Warner's sublime unbeaten 89 led the way for Karachi Kings' nine-wicket win over Quetta Gladiators in their final PSL 2026 round-robin fixture at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday (April 25).
Chasing a target of 196, the Kings got off to a quick start with Jason Roy and Warner putting up a 58-run stand for the opening wicket. Warner took the attack to Abrar Ahmed in the fifth over, smashing three fours and a six and while Roy departed in the final Powerplay over, Reeza Hendricks joined his skipper to steer the chase forward. Abrar pulled things back with a quiet 5-run over right after the Powerplay but Usman Tariq then bore the brunt of Warner's mastery in a 16-run over, during the course of which the Kings skipper raised his fifty.
The duo continued to motor along, raising a 100-run stand. 34 runs were needed off the last four overs when Hendricks tore into Alzarri Joseph for three sixes and a four in the 17th. Tariq managed to drag the game into the 19th over but Hendricks sealed the chase with a boundary, finishing unbeaten on 87 off 48 balls. Warner scored two more runs having faced the same number of deliveries.
Earlier in the day, Rilee Rossouw's splendid 90 helped the Gladiators post 195/6 in their 20 overs after being asked to bat first. The Gladiators were rocked by Hasan Ali, who removed openers Shamyl Hussain and Khawaja Nafay for a duck in the first over. But Rossouw was joined by skipper Saud Shakeel as the duo posted counter-punched with an array of boundaries, taking Quetta to 58/2 at the end of the Powerplay. The runs kept flowing as the partnership swelled to 148, with both batters racing past the 50-run mark.
Pacer Rizwanullah broke the partnership with the dismissal of Shakeel, before Abbas Afridi struck the very next over to halt Rossouw's knock at 90. Dinesh Chandimal added the finishing touches though, finishing unbeaten on a 17-ball 30. But as it turned out, 195 was not enough for the Gladiators, who end their campaign with three wins from 10 outings and well out of the playoffs race. The Kings, meanwhile, now have their fate out of their hands as they pin their hopes on other results to make it to the playoffs.
@B0$: Quetta Gladiators 195/6 in 20 overs (Rilee Rossouw 90, Saud Shakeel 57; Rizwanullah 2-28) lost to Karachi Kings 199/1 in 18.3 overs (David Warner 89*, Reeza Hendricks 87*) by 9 wickets
