KARACHI: Fakhar Zaman, Mitchell, and an impressive bowling performance powered Lahore Qalandars to a victory against Karachi Kings in the sixth match of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 10 at the National Bank Stadium on Tuesday.
Chasing a challenging total of 202 runs, the Kings were all out for 136 runs in 19.1 overs, despite a determined effort from Khushdil Shah.
The home side got off to a difficult start, as Qalandars’ captain Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled brilliantly in the first over, dismissing both David Warner and James Vince for zero.
Following this early setback, Shan Masood joined Tim Seifert, and the two contributed 18 runs each in an attempt to stabilize the innings.
However, their partnership only yielded 39 runs before they were dismissed in consecutive overs, leaving the Kings at 45/4 after 7.1 overs.
The situation worsened for the Kings as they lost three more wickets in quick succession, slipping to 50/7 in just 9.5 overs.
Hasan Ali and Khushdil Shah then provided some resistance against the aggressive Qalandars’ bowling attack, putting together a partnership of 48 runs for the eighth wicket until Hasan was dismissed by Afridi. Hasan scored 27 runs off 25 balls, hitting two fours and two sixes.
Khushdil carried his bat through most of the innings and top-scored for the 2020 champions with a 27-ball knock of 39, including four fours and two sixes.
For Lahore Qalandars, Afridi and Rishad Hossain each took three wickets, while Sikandar Raza claimed two. Haris Rauf and Asif Afridi contributed with one wicket apiece.
Opting to bat first, the Qalandars posted 201 runs while losing six wickets in their allocated 20 overs.
Karachi Kings struck early, as the Qalandars lost their openers, Mohammad Naeem (7) and Abdullah Shafique (6), in the second and fourth overs, respectively.
However, Daryl Mitchell and Fakhar Zaman steadied the Qalandars’ innings with a mammoth partnership of 125 runs.
Fakhar scored his second fifty of PSL 10 with an impressive 76 runs off 47 deliveries, featuring six fours and five sixes.
Mitchell then shared a brief 28-run partnership with Sam Billings, who scored 19 off 10 deliveries before falling victim to Hasan.
Karachi Kings made a comeback with the wicket of Mitchell. He was removed by Abbas Afridi after making 75 runs off 41 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes.
However, despite the regular wickets, Qalandars managed to cross 200 in their allocated overs.
Hasan was the standout bowler for the Kings, picking up four wickets for just 28 runs in his four overs, while Abbas claimed one wicket.
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