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LAHORE: Karachi Kings finally got their first win in the ongoing Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition after they defeated Lahore Qalandars by 22 runs at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Friday.
Chasing a moderate 150-run target, the Qalandars could just make 127 for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs, with the most being scored by Mohammad Hafeez (33).
This was Karachi Kings’ first victory in the ongoing tournament after they suffered eight consecutive losses. Kings’ left-arm pacer Mir Hamza was the star of the night after he grabbed 4 wickets in four overs.
Earlier, after being invited to field first, the Qalandars bowled out Kings for 149 runs in 19.5 over, courtesy of four wickets each from star leggie Rashid Khan and young pacer Zaman Khan.
Karachi didn’t get a good start to their innings as opener Joe Clarke was removed with 12 runs on the board. Twelve runs later Sharjeel Khan also followed him when Shaheen Shah got him lbw, while Babar Azam tried to hold the innings together.
Qasim Akram scored 26 runs in 18 balls, while Babar was once again removed by Rashid Khan for 39 runs on the first ball of the 11th over as he got him stumped to the outside the off-stump delivery.
Mohammad Nabi and Imad Wasim failed to play a huge knock getting out for eight runs each, while Lewis Gregory’s 28 runs helped Kings reach a total which they can at least try to defend break their losing streak.
In terms of bowling, the young pacer Zaman Khan continued to show his skills as he picked four wickets for giving away 16 in 3.5 overs. Rashid Khan took four for 17 in four overs and was once again on-target with his line and length. Shaheen was also good with the new ball as he took one scalp.
Karachi is already out of the tournament after losing eight consecutive matches and their poor run in the tournament is likely to dent the impact of this match between two rival cities.
Lahore seem to be in top form with 10 points in seven games and one more win will confirm their place in the playoffs of the PSL.
Playing XIs:
Lahore Qalandars: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam Mohammad Hafeez, Harry Brook, Phil Salt (wk), Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
Karachi Kings: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam (c), Joe Clarke, Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nabi, Rohail Nazir (wk), Qasim Akram, Imad Wasim, Chris Jordan, Usman Shinwari, Mir Hamza
