MUZAFFARABAD: In the opening match of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL), Mirpur Royals lost to Rawalakot Hawks by 43 runs.
According to details, Mirpur Royals won the toss and elected to field in the match played at Pakistan’s most beautiful Muzaffarabad Stadium in Azad Kashmir and Rawlakot started batting.
Bismillah Khan and Ahmed Shehzad scored 59 and 69 runs for their team as opening batsmen and provided a good basis for scoring big while playing offensive innings.
Amad Butt knocks over Bismillah Khan.#SRGKPL #KheloAazadiSe #KPL21 pic.twitter.com/AbrZ25o1LB
— Kashmir Premier League (Official) (@kpl_20) August 6, 2021
Rawalakot’s team was expected to score more than 200 in the match played last night but after the openers, other players could not play more aggressively due to which the team returned to the pavilion after scoring 194 runs for the loss of 6 players in 20 overs. ۔
Former national cricket team captain Shahid Afridi, who was leading the Rawla Kot Hawks, was bowled out for 16 off 5 balls, which did not live up to the expectations of the fans.
Boom Boom ???? #SRGKPL #KheloAazadiSe #KPL21 pic.twitter.com/WNLu841KLF
— Kashmir Premier League (Official) (@kpl_20) August 6, 2021
Mirpur bowlers bowled well against Rawalakot. Ahmed Butt led 3 players to the pavilion while Salman Irshad 2 and Khushdal Shah 1 stood out.
The start of the game by Mirpur Royals was unexpectedly disappointing. Openers Ibtisam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Taha returned to the pavilion without adding a single run to the team’s total score.
Mirpur Royals are in a spot of bother at the end of the power play.#SRGKPL #KheloAazadiSe #KPL21 pic.twitter.com/FAjYjXzaMt
— Kashmir Premier League (Official) (@kpl_20) August 6, 2021
Shoaib Malik, captain of the Royals and former batsman of the national cricket team, tried his best to win the match by scoring 74 off 50 balls, but other players from Mirpur kept getting out one by one.
With the players getting out continuously, the pace of scoring also remained slow. Only 3 players scored more than 9, all the other players were out on a single-digit score. Overall, Mirpur Royals scored 151 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs as Rawla Kot Hawks won the opening match by a significant margin of 43 runs.
Among the bowlers of Rawlakot, Zaman Khan, Shahid Afridi and Asif Afridi stood out by leading 2 players to the pavilion while Waqas Maqsood and Usman Shinwari took 1 wicket each. Bismillah Khan was declared man of the match.
