KARACHI: Spirited Lahore Qalandars took the wind out of Karachi Kings sails when skipper Sohail Akhtar and his men defeated Imad Wasim and his charges by six wickets in a thrilling Pakistan Super League VI match at the National Stadium here on Sunday evening. Chasing a formidable target of 187 runs, Lahore raced home for the loss of four wickets. Qalandars were off to a horrible start against a fired-up Karachi side. Skipper Sohail was the first to depart, for a duck, after fielder Imad’s direct hit caught him short running lazily for a single. Pacer Mohammad Amir then bowled batsman Joe Denly for a golden duck as the Karachi crowd roared for their home side. Pacer Waqas Maqsood dealt the biggest blow to Lahore’s cause when he removed all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez (15 runs off nine balls), caught by fielder Babar Azam, as the side were reduced to 33 runs for the loss of three wickets.
With their side in trouble chasing a massive target, opener Fakhar Zaman and batsman Ben Dunk stepped up for their side. The duo combined for a massive 119-run partnership off just 79 balls to throw the game wide open. Daniel Christian got the better of Fakhar as the pressure of the required run-rate intensified towards the end of the innings. The opener had scored 83 runs off 54 balls before being caught by fielder Babar while attempting to clear the boundary rope. Batsman Dunk and all-rounder David Wiese however pushed the accelerator on the match with a 37-run partnership to propel their side to a massive six-wicket victory. Dunk remained not-out after scoring 57 runs off 43 balls while Wiese was the star at the end, hitting 31 runs at a bullet-like pace off just nine balls to spell doom for the hometown side. Amir, Waqas and Christian picked up one wicket each for Karachi.
Earlier, half-centuries from Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Nabi helped Kings post 186 for nine. After being put into bat, Karachi had a wobbly start, as they lost their premier batsman Babar Azam –– the top run getter in PSL –– for five, to a scorching in-swinging delivery from Shaheen Afridi. Joe Clarke (four off six, one four) and Colin Ingram (0 off one) were next to follow Babar with scoreboard reading at 37 for three at the end of fifth over. Sharjeel, who got a life in the first over of the match, made full use of his dropped catch, as he punished the Lahore bowlers all around the ground, and struck five fours and six towering sixes in his innings of 64. He was equally supported by Afghanistan’s Nabi, who scored his first half-century in the PSL 6. He contributed 57 off 35 balls, hitting four fours and three sixes. Both batsmen knitted 76 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.
After the departure of Nabi, Karachi managed to add only 24 runs in the last four overs, and ended up scoring 186 for nine. For Lahore, Shaheen was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 27.
Today’s Match
Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators at 7:00 pm