PSL 2021 | LHQ vs KRK: Noor Ahmad, Amir nullify fighting Tim David and Faulkner to keep Karachi alive

It was supposed to be the biggest match of the Abu Dhabi leg’s group stage as it was between the two biggest cities of Pakistan also the two biggest sporting rivals. Although Karachi in the ned won it by seven runs and seven runs is a huge margin in T20 cricket, but it was not at all as easy as it might seem from the end result. 

Lahore vs Karachi could be compared to the usual Delhi vs Mumbai affair in IPL terms or Liverpool vs Manchester in Football terms. The match turned out to be exactly as was expected a see-saw battle that went on fr the entire 40 overs of the game, with no team seeming to have full control at any point in time. 

Chasing a total of 177, the Qalandars got off to a flyer aggregating 34 runs in the first three overs. From the fourth over onwards the Kings started pulling things back as Mohammad Amir bowled a brilliant over, conceding just three runs. In the very next over, Mohammad Ilyas struck and got the Qlanadars skipper Sohail Akhtar out for 21. From there on, Imad Wasim’s men starting tightening the noose on the Qalandars as left-arm spin was introduced from all ends. 

Afghanistan’s teen sensation Noor Ahmad was hard to read even for experienced campaigners like Mohammad Hafeez. He was the pick of the bowlers for Karachi, striking twice in his four overs and ending with the figures of 2-19. Noor got the wickets of Hafeez and Ben Dunk even as the pressure applied by him resulted in two other wickets, Salman Agha getting run out and Fakhar Zaman being bowled by Imad. Ahamd, 16, was adjudged Man of the Match for his efforts. 

At the end of the 14th over, Qalandars were 92/5, needing 85 from six overs with Tim David and James Faulkner at the crease. From there on the game took a complete 360-degree turn as the two Hobart Hurricanes players 58 runs in just 23 balls. But David, trying to crush the game in just one over, hit a loopy slower straight to Danish Aziz at long-off on the last delivery of the 18th over. It was the same over in which he had hit 19 runs already. The game changed once again. 

Needing 27 to win from the last two, Faulkner and new man Rashid Khan were put to test against one of the best death bowler Amir. Going for six on the second delivery of his over, the left-arm pacer pulled things back immensely. So much so that he conceded only one run apart from that six in the other five deliveries to give a 20 run cushion for Ilyas to defend. 

The 22-year-old did defend those 20 runs, getting Faulkner caught at the 3rd delivery and forcing Rashid to go all out as Qalandars needed 18 to win from three balls. He hit a six on the fourth ball and suddenly only two more of those sixes were required. However, it wasn’t going to be, as only four runs game of the last two balls, handling Karachi the much-needed win. 

With this win, the kings have now moved up to 8 points from nine games and are threatening the other three teams, Qalandars, Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi for a place in the Playoffs. 

For Qalandars it was their third loss in a row and skipper Khtar would now be under the pump as the Playoffs qualification hangs by the thread when his team faces Multan Sultans on June 18. “Our batting has been poor after the 6-7 overs. We will sit down and talk about batting. The bowling has been good,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony. 

Earlier in the night, Imad surprised all by electing to bat first after winning the toss. His decision was validated by Babar Azam and Martin Guptill, who even after a false start by Nasir Jamshed, tailored along and added 88 for the second wicket. But as told earlier the game was a see-saw battle. Even after the foundation being laid, the Kings failed to capitalise, losing four wickets including that of Babar in 23 runs. 

They did not look like crossing the 160 run mark at the end of the 16th over, struggling at 132-5 with two new men Imad and Aziz at the crease. But as had been the nature of the game, just when it seemed like it was heading in one direction, something unusual happened and this time around it was the 44 runs partnership in 24 balls between the Karachi skipper and Aziz, who was making a comeback into the side. While Imad remained unbeaten on 30 from 19, Aziz scored 16 on 10 balls. Babar was the highest scorer with 54 from 44, that when he was dropped thrice. 

Reacting to this much-needed win, Imad praised his bowlers for containing Qalandars even after being 20 runs short in the batting.  “You should peak at the right time. We have one more game to go. If we win it and qualify, you never know,” he added. 

Karachi play their last game here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, against Quetta Gladiators who are already out of the tournament and hence could be way more dangerous as it would look to oust the Kings as well. To qualify, Karachi must win, it is as simple as that. If Qalandars win their last game and get to 12 points then the Imad Wasim led team would hope that Islamabad defeat Multan Sultans in the last game. However, if Qalandars lose their last game. A win for Karachi would guarantee them a place in the Playoffs.