PSL 2018, Match 8 Review: Karachi Kings win three games in a row

Karachi Kings are enjoying their time in the PSL and have registered their third win in a row thanks to splendid Shahid Afridi performance. The Lahore Qalandars, who are yet to salvage a point in this tournament, has suffered yet another humiliation. Once again, their middle order collapsed badly and paved way for the Kings to win the game easily.

Earlier in the evening, the Karachi Kings had won the toss and opted to bat first. The decision proved to be a good one when English batsman Joe Denly got them off to a flyer. His partner Khurram Manzoor was struggling, but with Denly going nuts, he had enough time to recover his strike-rate.

After smashing 36 runs with one ball left in the 4th over, they must’ve felt they’re in line for a huge total. But beginning from the last ball of the 4th over, they lost three wickets in 10 balls without scoring a run. They were quickly reduced to 36/3, with Mustafizur Rahman, Sunil Narine, and Yasir Shah picking up the wickets.

Colin Ingram and Ravi Bopara, two experienced T20 players were in the middle to help the Kings get out of this predicament. They did so quite wonderfully, stemming the flow of wickets and gradually escalating the scoring rate. Bopara paced his innings perfectly in these difficult circumstances and though Ingram struggled a bit, he wasn’t bad either.

The duo added 50 runs for the 4th wicket in 44 balls and got them close to the 100-run mark. This partnership came to an end with Ingram trying to up the ante with some big shots and failing in the process. Though Bopara kept losing partners at the other end, he stitched some priceless stands with Imad Wasim and Mohammad Irfan to help his side post a decent total. Bopara finished with a well-compiled half-century in 34 balls.

Eventually, they registered 159 runs losing 7 wickets. Yasir Shah and Sunil Narine returned with braces and both of them were very tidy. Mustafizur too had a decent outing, returning with figures of 1/22 in 4 overs.

Qalandars suffer another collapse

Sunil Narine fell for a duck, but Brendon McCullum was in the mood and smacked a few boundaries. Accompanying him at the other end was youngster Fakhar Zaman, who too got a brilliant start. The duo raced off to the 50-run mark inside 5 overs as the scoring rate was well above 10 in this process.

But when both these players fell in a span of 3 balls, they never recuperated. Shahid Afridi provided the breakthrough for the Kings, sending Fakhar Zaman back in the 7th over. In the very next over, skipper Imad Wasim picked up the prized-scalp of Brendon McCullum. Afridi returned with another two wickets in his next two overs, which literally killed the Qalandars’ quest.

A catastrophic collapse followed as they lost 5 wickets for just 18 runs, thanks to splendid bowling spells from Afridi and Usman Khan towards the end. Their scoring rate diminished quite badly as all the batters were into a defensive approach and failed to salvage runs at a decent speed.

Eventually, they were bundled out for 132 runs in 18.3 overs. Usman Khan returned with impressive figures of 3/26, whilst Afridi remained the star with figures of 3/19. The Kings are the only unbeaten side in the league right now whilst the Qalandars are the only side who haven’t salvaged a point yet. Afridi was awarded Man of the Match for his stunning effort with the ball.

Brief Scores

Karachi Kings: 159/7 in 20 overs (Ravi Bopara 50*, Joe Denly 28; Yasir Shah 2/25, Sunil Narine 2/18)

Lahore Qalandars: 132 all out in 18.3 overs (Brendon McCullum 44; Shahid Afridi 3/19, Usman Khan 3/26)

Player of the match: Shahid Afridi

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