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Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United emerged victorious in another double-header day of the Pakistan Super League 2022 on January 30, winning over Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi, respectively.
While the Qalandars defeated the Kings by six wickets, United beat Zalmi by nine wickets. Both matches were played at the National Stadium in Karachi.
The second game of the day saw Kings post a total of 170/7 on the board, only for the Qalandars to overhaul that with six wickets intact. This, thanks largely to an outstanding hundred from left-hander Fakhar Zaman, who took 60 balls to make his 106, featuring 12 fours and four sixes. Fakhar almost singlehandedly took Qalandars home.
Kings had Mohammad Nabi (1/27), Imad Wasim (1/28) and Umaid Asif (2/30) performing well with the ball, but a less-than-ideal score on the board on a flat pitch eventually hurt them.
In the first half, Haris Rauf (3/33), Rashid Khan (1/24) and Shaheen Afridi (1/31) were the stand-out performers with the ball for Qalandars. The trio helped restrict Kings to 170 after a promising start by Sharjeel Khan (60) and Babar Azam (41) threatened to take the opposition to a more intimidating score.
Brief scores
Karachi Kings 170/7 in 20 overs (Khan 60, Azam 41; Rauf 3/33) lost to Lahore Qalandars 174/4 in 19.2 overs (Zaman 106; Asif 2/30, Nabi 1/27) by 6 wickets
Earlier on Sunday, United dominated their way past Zalmi with the bat in hand, securing an easy win despite chasing a decent target of 169. Their openers – Paul Stirling (57) and Alex Hales (82*) – were outstanding with bat in hand. Stirling and Hales put on a stand of 112 runs in just 58 balls and made it a no-contest by the time they were separated.
Stirling hit seven fours and three sixes during his blistering 25-ball stay, while Hales dispatched the ball for 13 fours and one maximum in his unbeaten innings off 54 deliveries.
Once Stirling departed, Hales was joined by Rahmanullah Gurbaz (27*), and they took Islamabad to the winning post with more than four overs to spare. None of the Zalmi bowlers, bar maybe Hussain Talat (0/13), could claim to have maintained a leash on run-scoring in the second half.
Zalmi performed indifferently with the bat, too, as it required a stand-out performance from Sherfane Rutherford (70*) for them to inch past the 160-mark. 26 from Ben Cutting was the second-highest score of the innings. Hasan Ali (2/34) and Faheem Ashraf (2/23) were exceptional with the ball for United.
Brief scores
Peshawar Zalmi 168/6 in 20 overs (Rutherford 70*; Ashraf 2/23) lost to Islamabad United 172/1 in 15.5 overs (Hales 82*, Stirling 57; Talat 0/13) by 9 wickets
