LAHORE-Brilliant batting by David Wiese, Fakhar Zaman and Ben Dunk and outstanding bowling by Shaheen Shah Afridi steered Lahore Qalandars to a vigorous six-wicket victory over defending champions Karachi Kings in the 11th match of the PSL-6 at Karachi’s National Stadium on Sunday.
According to information made available here, Qalandars, chasing the target of 187 to win, lost the quick wickets for no run in the very first over. Mohammad Hafeez (15 off nine, one four, one six) was the next batsman to go as Qalandars were reeling at 33 for three in the fifth over. Opening batsman Fakhar Zaman was joined by another left-hander Ben Dunk and both contributed 119 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. Fakhar emerged as top scorer with a 54-ball 83, which he gathered hitting 8 fours and 4 sixes.
Requiring 30 runs in last two overs, the right handed Wiese got two fours off Mohammad Amir before he smashed a six in the penultimate over, as Qalandars collected 20 runs and brought down the equation to 10 required off the final over. Wiese hit two consecutive sixes off Daniel Christian first two balls to help Qalandars over the line with four balls spare. Dunk (57* off 43, five fours, two sixes) and Wiese (31* off 9, three fours, three sixes) contributed an unbeaten 47-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Earlier, half-centuries from Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Nabi helped Kings post 186 for nine. After being put into bat, Kings had a wobbly start, as they lost their premier batsman Babar Azam –the top run getter in HBL 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 Qalandars 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 Mohammad Nabi, who scored his first half-century in the HBL 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, Kings managed to add only 24 runs in the last four overs, and ended up scoring 186 for nine. For Qalandars, Shaheen was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 27.
Scorecard
KARACHI KINGS:
Sharjeel Khan c Patel b Wiese 64
Babar Azam b Shaheen Afridi.. 5
Joe Clarke run out…………… 4
Colin Ingram b Ahmed Daniyal 0
M Nabi c Sohail b Haris Rauf. 57
Daniel Christian run out……. 27
Imad Wasim c Denly b Patel… 0
Waqas Maqsood b Shaheen. 12
Mohammad Ilyas not out……. 4
M Amir b Shaheen Afridi…….. 0
Arshad Iqbal not out…………. 0
EXTRAS: (b2, w11)………….. 13
TOTAL: (9 wkts, 20 overs)… 186
FOW: 1-0, 2-0, 3-33.
BOWLING: Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-0-27-3, Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-19-0, Haris Rauf 4-0-32-1, Ahmed Daniyal 4-0-37-1, David Wiese 4-0-42-1, Samit Patel 2-0-27-1.
LAHORE QALANDARS:
Fakhar Zaman c Babar b Christian 83
Sohail Akhtar run out………… 0
Joe Denly b Mohammad Amir. 0
Hafeez c Babar b Waqas Maqsood 15
Ben Dunk not out…………… 57
David Wiese not out……….. 31
EXTRAS: (lb1, w2)……………. 3
TOTAL: (4 wkts, 19.2 overs). 189
FOW: 1-0, 2-0, 3-33, 4-152
BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 4-1-34-1, Mohammad Ilyas 2-0-25-0, Waqas Maqsood 3-0-34-1, Arshad Iqbal 3-0-25-0, Mohammad Nabi 4-0-31-0, Daniel Christian 3.2-0-39-1.
TOSS: Lahore Qalandars
UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza, R Illingworth
TV UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz
MATCH REFEREE: Roshan Mahanama
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
