KARACHI: Shaheen Afridi’s ferocious pace and David Wiese’s late charge spurred Lahore Qalandars to a six-wicket win over defending champion Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League on Sunday.
Afridi returned figures of 3-27, with his bowling reaching speeds of 94 mph (around 150 kph). That helped to restrict Karachi to 186-9 despite half centuries by Sharjeel Khan (64) and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi (57).
Wiese’s blistering 31 not out off nine balls carried Lahore to 189-4 in 19.2 overs in reply as the tall South African clubbed two successive sixes against Australian fast bowler Daniel Christian to finish off the game.
Karachi had a sniff of victory when Lahore required 30 off the last two overs. But Mohammad Amir’s 19th over went for 20 with Wiese getting two fortunate edges to the boundary and then lofting the fast bowler over long off for a six.
“To be honest, I always felt we were in with a shout in that situation,” Wiese said.
“Sometimes you smash it straight to the fielder, so those little nicks count. We’ve seen toward the back end it’s difficult to defend here with one short boundary.”
Fakhar Zaman scored a brilliant 83 off 54 balls and Ben Dunk remained unbeaten on 57 after Lahore had slipped to 0-2 in the first over and then also lost key batsman Mohammad Hafeez for 15 inside the batting powerplay.
Both left-handers shared a 119-run stand before Zaman holed out in the deep in the 18th over. But Wiese’s late onslaught carried the team home.
Afridi could have picked up five wickets but Lahore skipper Sohail Akhtar, who won the toss and didn’t hesitate to field, dropped a sitter from Khan in the first over.
Babar Azam (5) was clean bowled by Afridi in his second over but only after Zaman failed to hold onto a sharp chance offered by Pakistan’s premier batsman, who went to cut Afridi’s short-of-length delivery.
Afridi pegged back Karachi’s hopes of going closer to 200 runs when he clean bowled Waqas Maqsood and Amir off vicious yorkers in the last over.
“They shouldn’t have chased it down, but credit goes to Fakhar and David Wiese how they played,” said Karachi captain Imad Wasim, who surprisingly did not bowl. “At the end, we should have scored 40 or 50 off the last four overs but we couldn’t because of some bad shots and runouts.”
It was the 11th straight successful chase in this season’s PSL with no team yet to defend the total after being put into bat by the opposition.
The win pushed Lahore to the top of the points table alongside Peshawar Zalmi with both teams on six points after four games. Karachi has four points.
In another winning chase, Afridi, Wiese lead Lahore to victory
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In another winning chase, Afridi, Wiese lead Lahore to victory
- Karachi had a sniff of victory when Lahore required 30 off the last two overs
- The win pushed Lahore to the top of the points table alongside Peshawar Zalmi
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
