PSL 2017, Match 8, Review: Fakhar Zaman's half century ensures Lahore beat Karachi in a close combat

A desperate Karachi Kings outfit took on the Lahore Qalandars in the 8th match of the PSL 2017. The Kings had suffered two defeats in their first two matches of the season. The plight of Lahore Qalandars was no different either. In the three matches that they had played prior to their match against the Kings, they had registered just one win. In the match, it was the Karachi Kings who had a positive start. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara managed to win the toss and opted to field first.

Clearly, the veteran Sri Lankan wanted to go by the trend of the season. The Kings played with the Caribbean duo of Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard in the match. Ravi Bopara was the fourth overseas player for them in the key encounter. The Lahore Qalandars, on the other hand, had Jason Roy, Grant Elliott and Sunil Narine in addition to skipper Brendon McCullum as their four overseas for the match. In walked the threatening opening duo of Jason Roy and Brendon McCullum for the Qalandars.

Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim took the new ball in the second over and struck immediately to send McCullum packing for a duck. Fakhar Zaman, who had shown good form in the previous game, came in at number 3. Meanwhile, Roy played in the way he is renowned to play. Both Zaman and Roy quickly added 45 runs off mere 23 deliveries for the second wicket. The partnership was broken when Sohail Khan shattered the wood work of Roy in the last over of the powerplay.

Roy scored 26 off 16 balls with 2 fours and a six to his name. His departure saw Umar Akmal come at the crease. Akmal looked good for his 16-ball 25 before Usama Mir had him caught by Ravi Bopara in the 11th over. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan was the new man in at number 5. He gave some good support to Zaman, who had eased past his fifty. He could not add more to his score and became Mir’s second wicket in the 13th over.

Zaman struck 56 off just 36 balls with 5 fours and 3 towering maximums. Few cameos from Elliott and Narine, combined with Rizwan’s 22-ball 29 saw Lahore Qalandars finish with 179/8 in their stipulated 20 overs. Mohammad Amir was the pick of the bowlers for Karachi Kings as he bagged 2 wickets towards the end of the first innings.

The Karachi Kings had a very disappointing start to their run chase as their big name opening duo of Babar Azam and Chris Gayle fell in quick succession. Sunil Narine got rid of Chris Gayle in the 2nd over on 5 and Mohammad Irfan accounted for the dismissal of Babar Azam on 9. The veteran campaigners of the Karachi outfit – Kumar Sangakkara and Shoaib Malik – walked at the crease to resurrect the innings from 21/2 after 4 overs.

They added hundred runs together and before Sangakkara was dismissed they had 122 runs on the board. Malik departed soon after with the score on 125 – the job wasn’t done until then as they required another 54 runs to win. There was a lot expected from the big man Kieron Pollard who walked in next and English allrounder Ravi Bopara but there was little they could do and were dismissed after adding 8 and 5 runs respectively.

Karachi kept losing wickets and it was too stiff a task for the lower order to chase the target down against Sohail Tanvir and company eventually they ended up 7 short of a victory and Lahore successfully defended the target despite Sangakkara’s effort.

Brief Scores:

Lahore Qalandars 179/8 in 20 overs (Zaman 56, Rizwan 29, Amir 2/30, Mir 2/35)

Karachi Kings 172/8 (K Sangakkara 65; S Tanvir 2/30)

Man of the Match: Fakhar Zaman