Watson holds his nerve in PSL thriller

Australian Shane Watson has underlined his value as a T20 allrounder by holding his nerve in the final over of his side's maiden win in the inaugural Pakistan Super League.

A day after earning a massive pay day in the Indian Premier League auction, Watson conceded 13 from the last over of Islamabad United's tense victory over the Karachi Kings in Dubai.

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The Kings, with Englishman Ravi Bopara swinging hard in the late overs, needed 16 to win from the final six balls as Islamabad captain Misbah-ul-Haq threw Watson to ball to complete his four-over spell.

Despite starting with a first-up wide - which resulted in a run out - Watson conceded just six runs from the opening four deliveries leaving the Kings needing 10 from the final two balls to win the match.

A six from Bopara from the penultimate delivery brought the Kings within reach, but Watson corrected his length on the final ball, delivery a perfect yorker to seal a three-run victory.

"It's a very important win for us after losing our first two," Watson said.

"I just tried to get the yorker off the last ball. It came off a bit better than (the ball) before.

"This win will give us a bit of momentum that we lost in the last two games. This should give us a lot of confidence."

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Watson had earlier managed just 13 with the bat as Khalid Latif top-scored with 39 in Islamabad's total of 8-132.

Bopara took 2-25 and finished unbeaten with 32, while Watson's Sydney Thunder teammate Andre Russell finished with 1-23 from four overs. Pakistani offspinner Saeed Ajmal was named man-of-the-match for figures of 3-27 from three overs.

Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen top-scored with 35 as his Quetta Gladiators chased down a target of 136 with three wickets and just one ball to spare against Peshawar Zalmi.

Hobart Hurricanes allrounder Darren Sammy had blazed 48 from just 31 balls in Peshawar's total of 7-135 before Pietersen put Quetta on track in the run chase.

Needing seven to win off the final over, Zimbabwean Elton Chigumbura hit Wahab Riaz for four from the second delivery before tail-ender Anwar Ali clipped one between wicketkeeper and first clip to the boundary to secure the three-wicket win.