Rawalpindiz were cruising. After 17 overs they sat on 174 for three, Sam Billings and Daryl Mitchell having rattled up 76 in the previous five. Billings had just clipped Abbas Afridi for four boundaries through the leg side and the partnership, already 120 from 70 balls, looked set to push well past 200 – 220 did not feel fanciful.
Then, yet again, Karachi turned to Hasan Ali. The seamer took the 18th and 20th overs, conceded only 13 runs and removed Billings and Cole McConchie. Rawalpindiz finished on 197, a total that felt 20 shy of par given the platform. Karachi chased it with a ball to spare and Hasan’s two-over burst was the clear difference.
It was the third match on the trot in which Hasan’s death-bowling – the last four overs of an innings – had tipped things Karachi’s way. At Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, where scores have rocketed thanks to firm pitches, short boundaries and a lightning outfield, bowlers have struggled. The tournament strike-rate sits just under 150; the average runs per dismissal is nudging 29. Yet Hasan has bucked the trend.
Across his five overs at the death this season he has gone at only 4.80 runs per over, comfortably the best economy for anyone who has bowled at least four late-overs overs. For context, most fast bowlers are disappearing at more than 11 in this phase. Hasan’s eight wickets – six of them after the 16th over – have stalled momentum precisely when sides expect to accelerate.
Death bowling is not just about wickets, but those breakthroughs matter because they reset a batting side’s rhythm. Billings, for instance, was unsettled by a cutter followed by a sharp bouncer before Hasan nailed a hard-length ball that clattered middle stump. Two balls into the 20th over McConchie fell to a similar pattern. A week earlier against Quetta, Hasan had limited Hamza’s men to seven runs from his final two overs, ending Rilee Rossouw’s chase-defining stay and picking off Hasan Nawaz, Tom Curran and Ahmed Daniyal.
Since moving to the Kings at the start of the 2024 campaign, Hasan’s numbers in the closing stages read 9.60 runs per over – second only to Haris Rauf among bowlers to send down 15 or more late-overs overs in that time. The hallmark is variation: cutters that hold in the surface, slower-ball bouncers, the occasional yorker and just enough genuine pace to hurry batters when they sit deep.
Coaches often talk about “options under pressure” and Hasan seems to have them in abundance. His action, never the smoothest, lends disguise to the slower ball; the scrambled-seam cutter in particular has produced mishits rather than the clean swings currently peppering the stands elsewhere in the PSL.
Karachi’s attack is built around that fall-back. They lack outright pace, especially with Mohammad Amir still nursing a side strain, but Hasan’s ability to close out means the rest can focus on the middle overs. Imad Wasim can squeeze with left-arm spin, while Abbas Afridi’s hit-the-deck style is more manageable when there is a cushion for the 19th and 20th.
There is also the intangible lift a side gains from knowing the final overs are in safe hands. The Kings, winners of all three matches so far, have twice chased and once defended, each time leaning on Hasan to close one end. The confidence is obvious in field settings: an extra catcher at midwicket, a ringed off side daring hitters to go aerial.
The wider tournament narrative remains skewed towards bat: 13 matches at Gaddafi have produced 400-plus totals in six innings, and power-play batting averages outstrip anything seen in the past decade. In that climate, Hasan’s contrasting figures jump off the page.
Of course, the sample is still small. He will bowl bad overs; even the best death specialists do. But the building blocks are there: a proven method, clear roles and, crucially, form. Karachi’s unbeaten start owes plenty to batting depth – James Vince and Fakhar Zaman have both struck brisk half-centuries – yet without Hasan’s steady hand at the close those runs might have been in vain.
Whether the Kings can ride the wave deep into the campaign will hinge on sustaining that bowling discipline. The evidence so far suggests that, when matches tighten in the final stretch, Hasan Ali is as good a man as any to have ball in hand.
