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PSL 2021 | LHQ vs KRK: Danish Aziz blinder and bowlers send Karachi to Playoffs as Lahore is knocked out

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It was a must-win game for Karachi Kings if they were to qualify for the Playoffs. Thanks to their superior net run rate, they needed only a win and no other mathematical apparatus was needed to chalk out how many balls how many runs were to be made. With victory on their mind and the weakest team of the season, Quetta Gladiators as their opposition, Imad Wasim men fancied victory and they eventually managed to get it courtesy of some brilliantly controlled bowling effort and a blinder from Danish Aziz with the bat. 

This victory by 14 runs meant that Karachi made it to yet another Playoffs of the PSL. Since the start of the league, the team from the financial capital of Pakistan has been able to make it to the Playoffs of every season and are currently the defending champions. Victory to Karachi was going to be an ouster of their arch-rivals Lahore Qalandars and even after earning 10 points, which is equal to the points earned by Karachi and Peshawar, the Sohail Kahtar side, finalists of the last year, failed to qualify to the next round this year. 

Defending 176, the Kings started on a positive note removing Saim Ayub when Quetta’s score was just 32. Soon after Jake Weatherald was lost by Quetta and it came down to the same old story once again, Sarafarz Ahmed left to do too much with too few resources at bay. He tried building partnerships with many players including Azam Khan, but the run rate pressure kept mounting and the skipper kept losing one partner after the other. 

In the end, when the men in purple needed 37 from the last two overs and Sarfraz was joined by Jack Wildermuth, Mohammad Amir bowled a brilliant over, conceding just five runs. He even dropped a dolly offered by Wildermuth off his bowling. That almost sealed the game for Karachi. With 32 needed off the last over, All Quetta and their 34-year-old captain could manage was 17 runs, losing the game by 14 runs. Arshad Iqbal and Mohammad Ilyas, the two youngsters were the picks of the bowlers for Karachi as they shared the five wickets among them. Ilyas was expensive as well, ending his four-over spell at 3-39. 

The only silver lining from the game was Sarfaraz’s fifty, because of the virtue of that, he became the only Quetta player to score a half-century in the Abu Dhabi leg of the tournament. Reacting to the eighth loss among 10 games this season, Sarfaraz said, “We committed the same mistake throughout the tournament, we didn't have match-winning partnerships throughout the season. We will try to rectify this next year by building a solid team.” It is the second time in a row that Quetta have not been able to make it to the Playoffs. 

Earlier in the day, Karachi, much like their last game, decided to bat first after winning the toss. They had a slow but steady build-up as Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam put in 71 runs in nine overs. However from 71 without loss, they were suddenly 99-4 after 15 overs. Chadwick Walton and Imad Wasim tried to arrest the fall, but it wasn’t until Danish Aziz played his 13 ball blinder, scoring 45 runs and pushing the Karachi total to 176 that the team felt secured enough. 

Imad felt confident after back to back victories to qualify for the Playoffs. He was also in awe of Aziz who was deservingly announced Man of the Match. Reacting to it, he said, “Without Danish, we wouldn't have posted that score and really happy for the team and Danish,” he said. “Once you get the momentum, you have the belief and confidence. We have some gun players at the top like Babar, Guptill and Sharjeel and hopefully, they will deliver,” the hopeful captain added. 

Most likely Karachi would face Peshawar Zalmi in the first Eliminator at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on June 21 as the two rems occupy the fourth and third place in the Points table respectively. However, if Multan Sultans lose big time in their last game against Islamabad, then Karachi might face Multan as well. But as of now, they are securely into the Playoffs.

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PSL 2021: Jack Wildermuth concedes most runs in an over in PSL history

Debuts can go horribly wrong and for Australian Jack Wildermuth, it just went worse in his Pakistan Super League debut for Quetta Gladiators. Bowling in the 19th over of the game, he was smoked all over the park by Danish Aziz, conceding 33 runs in one over, the most for any bowler in PSL’s history. The previous record was held by another Aussie Dan Christain while bowling for Lahore Qalandars. The Brisbane Heat player was asked to bowl the over as the original bowler, Naseem Shah pulled out before starting the overdue to cramps. Aziz, who had just arrived at the crease, barely playing five balls in his innings till then, got a four on the first ball through a Chinese cut. Post that though, all hell broke loose as he smashed one six in the leg side with sheer wrist power, then went on to hit one over long-off after shimmying down the crease. On the fourth ball, he was offered a full ball in the slot and he maximised it to hit a six over the bowler’s head. Frustrated, Wildermuth tried a slower one, but to no reprieve, as it was a no-ball for height and was hit over square for the fourth six of the over by Aziz. The last two balls were anti comatic in the manner that only four runs came from them after such belligerent hitting in the overs prior to them. Aziz had scored 45 off just 12 balls and was heading to what could have been the fastest PSL fifty, but was bowled by a Khurram Manzoor delivery on the fourth ball of the 20th over. The 53 runs conceded by Wildermuth was also the joint-most runs conceded by a bowler in a three-over spell in PSL. He equalled his compatriot from Quetta, Zahid Mahmood's record. It was Aziz’s innings that put the Karachi Kings in a favourable position in a do or die match. The Kings set up a target of 177 for the Gladiators.