Karachi Kings beat Lahore Qalandars in the last over of the match on their home soil on Saturday to keep playoff hopes alive at the Pakistan Super League.

“Bowlers did really well, fielding too but in the middle overs they conceded a lot of runs. The openers laid a foundation which helped us to chase it down under pressure,” Kings skipper Shan Masood said at the presentation ceremony.

The home side won the match by three wickets, with the opening pair giving the side a good start that they were lacking in the tournament.

Irfan Khan was declared player of the match for his cameo while chasing the 178-run target set by Qalandars in 20 overs.

“We wanted to know what the pitch is doing and hence we opted to bowl first. We hope results go our way as we hope to stay alive [in the tournament,” Masood said.

The match was not for faint-hearted as Kings needed eight runs in the last over bowled by Zaman Khan. He did make an impact as two wickets fell in the final over.

But all-rounder Shoaib Malik kept calm and led his team to the victory.

Malik said they had a discussion to not panic in crunch situations. He admitted that it was not easy and they needed to calm and there “are always butterflies in your stomach in this type of situation.”

Lahore Qalandars Playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Tahir Baig, Abdullah Shafique, Shai Hope (wk), Sikandar Raza, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi (c), Jahandad Khan, Zaman Khan, Tayyab Abbas.

Karachi Kings Playing XI: James Vince, Tim Seifert (wk), Shan Masood (c), Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Irfan Khan Niazi, Anwar Ali, Arafat Minhas, Hassan Ali, Zahid Mehmood, Blessing Muzarabani.