Lahore Qalandars pulled off a thrilling six-wicket victory in the high voltage clash against arch-rivals Karachi Kings, chasing down a mammoth 187-run target. Chasing a daunting target, Qalandars had a horrific start as Sohail Akhtar was run out for a duck followed by Joe Denly being removed by Amir with a brilliant inswinging delivery.
Pacer Waqas Maqsood inflicted the biggest blow to Lahore Qalandars’ when he removed all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez who was looking good for another big knock.
With the side under pressure big time, Fakhar Zaman and Ben Dunk stepped up to the challenge. Both were shaky in the start as they weren’t able to score boundaries freely but they got stuck in. The duo combined for a massive 119-run partnership off 79 balls to throw the game wide open.
Daniel Christian dismissed Fakhar Zaman as the pressure of the run-rate increased towards the end of the innings. The opener had scored 83 off 54 balls before being caught by fielder Babar Azam. Ben Dunk and South African 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.
Ben Dunk remained unbeaten after scoring 57 off 43 balls while David Wiese was the star at the end scoring 31 off just 9.
Earlier, Sharjeel Khan’s 39-ball 64 and Mohammad Nabi’s quick-fire half-century had helped Karachi to make a smart recovery after they slipped to 37 for 3. However, after Nabi fell to Haris Rauf in the 16th over, Kings suffered a mini-collapse, losing their next four wickets for just 27 runs.
Lahore Qalandars blew away the top-order of the opposition courtesy of Shaheen Shah Afridi who dismissed Babar Azam early. Joe Clarke was run-out by Haris Rauf. He scored 4 off 6. Pacer Ahmed Daniyal put his side completely on top, bowling Colin Ingram for a golden duck and reducing Karachi Kings to 37 for 3 in five overs.
Sharjeel after being dropped stuck into Qalandars attack and hit the bowlers to all part. He scored a quickfire 64 off just 39. It was once again David Wiese, this time with the ball who got the better of left-hander, after the partnership between him and Nabi had swelled to 76 runs off 44 balls.
Nabi continued the momentum created by Sharjeel with a great display of power-hitting of his own. The all-rounder managed 57 runs off just 35 balls before succumbing to pacer Haris Rauf, caught by fielder Sohail Akhtar. His partnership with all-rounder Daniel Christian accounted for 45 runs off 26 balls as Karachi Kings charged towards a massive total.
All-rounder Samit Patel, who had gone for plenty earlier in the innings, made amends by removing skipper Imad Wasim for a golden duck. Karachi Kings’ momentum however took a massive hit as all-rounder Daniel Christian, who had appeared to be in sublime form, departed after a horrible mixup with tailender Waqas Maqsood. He scored 24 off 14.
Shaheen and Haris tightened the screws in the last few overs with unplayable yorkers. Shaheen was the pick of the bowlers and ended with figures of 3 for 27 and was adjudged as man of the match while Rauf bagged 1 for 32 in his four. Samit, Wiese, and Daniyal picked up one each.
