KARACHI: Karachi Kings registered their first victory in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 8 tournament on Sunday, thumping archrivals Lahore Qalandars by 67 runs in a one-sided contest.
Karachi and Lahore fans have relished their rivalry since the very first edition of the PSL. Karachi and Lahore are Pakistan’s largest and second-largest cities, respectively. Many have likened the PSL rivalry between the two teams to an India-Pakistan or Australia-England cricket match.
The intense rivalry between the two franchises has been compared to the India-Pakistan, and Australia-England cricket rivalry, with many also using the phrase “El-Clasico of cricket” whenever the two teams compete.
Sent in to bat by Qalandars skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi who won the toss and chose to field, the Kings managed to put up a defendable total of 186-5 after 20 overs. For the Kings, James Vince top-scored with 46 runs from 36 balls while Matthew Wade scored 36 runs from 24 balls.
The Qalandars started off on an aggressive note, with opening batters Fakhar Zaman and Mirza Tahir Baig finding the boundaries earlier on. However, Zaman was the first to depart, scoring 15 runs from 12 balls after Karachi’s Aamer Yamin shattered his stumps.
Irfan Khan Niazi then took a blinder to dismiss the dangerous Shai Hope off a Mohammad Amir delivery. He scored 1 from 2 balls only. The promising Kamran Ghulam managed to impress a bit, scoring 23 runs from 22 balls in an innings that included three boundaries before Javed dismissed him.
Hussain Talat managed to score only 2 runs from 4 balls while Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson and David Weise scored 18, 1 and 9 respectively.
For the Kings, Ben Cutting and Yamin took two wickets each while Javed stood out as the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 4/28 from 3.3 overs. Amir and Kings skipper Wasim grabbed one wicket each.
