From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Flamboyant batter Fakhar Zaman’s ton led the Lahore Qalandars to a six-wicket victory against Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Sunday.
The Qalandars opted to field first after winning the toss, and they performed sensationally both with the bat and ball. This was Karachi Kings third consecutive loss.
Karachi’s inning
Earlier, Karachi Kings had handed a 171-run target to Lahore Qalandars after good batting from Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam.
After being invited to bat, the Kings scored 170-7 at a run rate of 8.50, but except for the opener, no other batter performed up to the mark.
The Kings were sailing smoothly till the 10th over, but then Qalandars’ skipper Shaheen Afridi brought in experienced all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez to bowl.
On his first ball, Hafeez dismissed Sharjeel Khan (60), breaking the 84-run opening stand. After the important wicket, Zaman Khan (15) sent Mohammad Nabi back to the pavilion, and in the 15th over, Rashid Khan was able to get Babar’s (41) wicket.
The Qalandars’ bowlers performed sensationally, with Haris Rauf picking up three wickets, while Hafeez, Rashid, Zaman, and Shaheen picking up a scalp each.
Playing XI
Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Ghulam, Samit Patel, Ben Dunk (wk), David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
Karachi Kings: Babar Azam (c), Sharjeel Khan, Joe Clarke (wk), Muhammad Nabi, Sahibzada Farhan, Lewis Gregory, Imad Wasim, Aamer Yamin, Umair Asif, Mohammad Talha Khan, Muhammad Ilyas.
