Karachi Kings hand Lahore Qalandars ten-wicket drubbing

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Karachi Kings thumped Lahore Qalandars by ten wickets at the National Stadium in Karachi on Thursday after an inspired effort at the top of the order from openers Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan who notched up an unbeaten partnership of 151 runs in 17.1 overs.

The number-one ranked T20 International batsman in the world was back at his best scoring boundaries at will while dominating the Qalandars’ bowling.

Babar’s hard-hitting opening partner Sharjeel Khan appeared cautious at the start of his innings but he gradually got into his groove.

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The final over of the powerplay bowled by fast-bowler Haris Rauf saw two important chances being spilled, both of Sharjeel, which went a long way towards sealing Qalandars’ fate.

Sharjeel, who was on 18(19) at the time, was first dropped by wicketkeeper Ben Dunk while diving to his left after the batsman slashed a relatively wider delivery off Rauf.

A ball later, fielder Mohammad Faizan dropped a more straightforward catch of the same batsman which left Rauf scratching his head and ensured that Karachi Kings ended the powerplay on 52 for no loss.

Both batsmen continued to score freely at a run-rate above 8 till the tenth over of the match, before upping the ante in the second half of their innings.

Sharjeel completed his fifty off 40 balls with a four off fast-bowler Dilbar Hussain.

The Qalandars could have been dealt a bigger blow in the thirteenth over, as a visibly upset fast-bowler Shaheen Shah favored previously injured thumb. However, a wayward Shaheen completed his over which was a positive sign for the Qalandars side.

Babar brought up his fifty with a single off a neat little flick to fine leg after facing 36 deliveries.

The innings ended in a whimper when Babar picked up two runs, after an overthrow, which handed Karachi Kings a dominant ten-wicket victory.

Babar remained unbeaten at 69 (46) while Sharjeel remained unbeaten at 74 (59).

Earlier, Karachi Kings’ captain Imad Wasim won the toss and elected to field first on a flat track.

Lahore Qalandars started cautiously scoring 37 runs in the first five overs. Captain Sohail Akhtar survived a review for a caught-behind appeal of the bowling of fast-bowler Mohammad Amir on the second ball of the match, however replays showed that the ball did not make contact with the bat.

Fast-bowler Umaid Asif broke through Fakhar Zaman’s defenses in the last over of the powerplay while the batsman was attempting a cut-shot that managed to drag the ball on to his stumps after scoring 17 runs off 13 balls.

Batsman Chris Lynn could not repeat his performance from the last match against Peshawar Zalmi. He was caught by Iftikhar Ahmed off the bowling of fast-bowler Arshad Iqbal after scoring five runs off five balls.

Bubblegum man Ben Dunk could not get going either and was caught by Usama Mir off the bowling of Asif after scoring 9 runs off 14 balls.

Akhtar soon followed courtesy of a leg-before wicket decision off the bowling of Iqbal after scoring 68 (49).

Tight bowling from Karachi Kings towards the end of the innings piled on the pressure on all-rounder Samit Patel who was caught by Babar Azam off the bowling of fast-bowler Chris Jordan while trying to up the ante after scoring 5 runs off 9 balls.

Meanwhile, veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez scored a brisk 35 runs off 22 balls to ensure that Lahore Qalandars reached 150.

Arshad Iqbal was the pick of the bowlers from Karachi Kings after conceding 15 runs from three overs while taking two wickets. Fast-bowlers Umaid Asif also claimed two wickets.

Karachi Kings opener Sharjeel Khan was adjudged the player of the match for his healthy contribution with the bat.

The dominant win catapulted the Kings to second place in the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) season five points table with nine points.

Lahore Qalandars are down to fourth place with eight points from nine completed matches.