Bopara, Afridi helps Karachi edge out Qalandars
Karachi Kings remains unbeaten as they thrashed Lahore Qalandars in an exciting match by 27 runs in HBL-PSL 2018.
Karachi Kings added to the miseries of Lahore Qalandars as they extended their winning streak with third successive win in as many matches of PSL-3. On the other hand, Lahore Qalandars could not change the script and stay winless with third consecutive loss. Kings captain Imad Wasim after winning the toss decided to bat first.
Khurram Manzoor and Joe Denly came out to bat for Kings and contributed 36 runs for the first wicket as Yasir Shah provided the much needed breakthrough to Qalandars. In the very first ball of next over, Mustafizur Rahman sent Babar Azam back to pavilion on not.
Khurram Manzoor fall prey on the same score of 36 runs as Kings lost three back to back wickets in 3 overs. Collin Ingram and Ravi Bopara then added 50 runs for the 4th wicket and saved Kings from a complete destruction. Mohammad Rizwan came to bat after Ingram’s departure but he too went back too early when Karachi lost half of their side on 90 runs in 14th over.
Ravi Bopara continued scoring runs but he could not get the support from the other end as skipper Imad Wasim added 15 and Shahid Afridi scored 2 ball 6 runs. Tale ender, Mohammad Irfan (jr) then supported veteran Bopara in scoring runs as the duo contributed unbeaten 42 runs in last 20 balls including the last ball six from Bopara which helped him to complete his half century in 34 balls with 2 boundaries and 2 sixes. Mohammad Irfan (jr) remained unbeaten on 16 runs of 12 balls.
Bopara 50, Ingram and Denly 28 each helped Kings to post 159 runs on the board. Sunail Narine, Sohail Khan and Yasir Shah bagged 2 wickets each while Mustafizur Rahman got 1 wicket for Lahore.
With an asking rate of exactly 8 an over, Sunail Narine and Brendon McCullum came out to bat but Usman Khan Straightaway sent Sunail Narine back on golden duck. Fukhar Zaman next came to help his captain as both played fearlessly and leaked the runs easily. Both batsmen added 69 runs for the second wicket when Fakhar Zaman fall prey to Shahid Afridi on 19 runs. After adding 2 more runs, Imad Wasim booked McCullum on 40 runs and then Afridi got back to back wickets in his 2 overs as he sent back Umar Akmal and Sohail Akhtar to the dugout.
None of the Lahore's batsmen resisted much and after a strong start by Qalandars, Kings hastily wrapped up their innings on 132 runs in 18.3 overs as 6 Lahore batsmen could not move into double figures.
McCullum 44, Fakhar Zaman 19 and Agha Salman 15 were the top scores for Qalandars. Shahid Afridi and Usman Khan got 3 wickets each while Tymal Mills grabbed 2 and Imad Waim, Mohammad Irfan (jr) picked up 1 wicket apiece. Shahid Afridi was named as Man of the Match for his bowling performance.
Match Summery:
| Toss | Karachi won the toss, choose to bat |
| Man of the Match | Shahid Afridi (Karachi Kings) |
| KARACHI KINGS 159/7(20 OVERS) | |
| RS Bopara* 50 (34) | Sunil Narine 2/18 (4) |
| Collin Ingram 28 (29) | Yasir Shah 2/25 (4) |
| LAHORE QALANDARS 132(18.3 OVERS) | |
| Brendon McCullum 44 (30) | Shahid Afridi 3/19 (4) |
| Fakhar Zaman 19(15) | Usman Khan 3/26 (4) |
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