Qalandars get back to winning ways as Rawalpindiz’ search for maiden win continues

Staff Report

KARACHI: Lahore Qalandars broke their losing streak of three games by beating Rawalpindiz by a 32-run margin in their seventh match and went up to the sixth place on the points table displacing Karachi Kings here at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi on Saturday night. Fakhar Zaman’s blazing 84 and Mohammad Farooq’s 63 set the platform for Lahore’s 210-4 as the duo put on 121 runs while opening. In turn, Rawalapindiz showed fight with quickfire half-centuries from Yasir Khan and Saad Masood but in vain as only one other batter entered double figures. Rawalpindiz have now become the second side in HBL PSL history besides Karachi Kings in 2022 to lose the first seven matches of the season. With this win, Lahore are tied on six points with seventh-placed Karachi Kings, fifth-placed Hyderabad Kingsmen and fourth-placed Quetta Gladiators. Shaheen Shah Afridi got rid of the Rawalpindiz opening duo Mohammad Rizwan and Shahzaib Khan in the third over in a space of three balls to become the joint-leading wicket-taker in HBL PSL history with Hasan Ali. Both the pacers now stand on 135 scalps each, while Hasan will get a chance on Sunday to again take the lead.

Yasir Khan walked in at three and blazed a 25-ball half-century after Rawalpindiz finished the powerplay 62-2 and required 10 and half runs an over to secure their first win from thereon. The tide turned in the 10th over when Haris Rauf broke the 71-run stand between Yasir and Daryl Mitchell (11, 15b, 1×4), removing both in a space of four balls. From this juncture, Rawalpindiz lost six for 42 as Sikandar got Sam Billings stumped, while Usama Mir castled Dian Forrester and trapped Cole McConchie leg-before to leave them 122-7 in 14.2 overs. Razaullah departed in the 17th over after which Saad went berserk. Saad hit nine fours and one six bringing up a 21-ball half-century – joint-second fastest this season – before getting bowled on the penultimate ball of the innings for 54 off 26 against Haris. The right-arm pacer finished with three for 43, while Shaheen and Usama picked up two wickets each.

Earlier, Fakhar and Farooq put on a show for the first 10.5 overs of the innings as they produced the highest-opening stand for Qalandars. Their dominance was marked from the third over of the innings onwards before hitting two sixes and as many fours to close the powerplay with 69 runs. Billings missed Farooq’s stumping in the second over off McConchie before dropping Fakhar later. The duo was cruising till the halfway mark before Mohammad Amir bowled four dots to Farooq in the 11th over bringing an end to his 41-ball 63-run knockon the fifth. Farooq hit five fours and as many sixes in his outing. Abdullah Shafique (26, 18b, 1×4, 2x6s) then stitched a 70-run stand with Fakhar Zaman hitting at least a boundary each from 12th to 16th over. Fakhar brought up his 25th HBL PSL half-century off 30 balls with a boundary against Mitchell. Rawalpindiz pacer Razaullah, on his HBL PSL debut, finished his four-over spell with the wickets of Abdullah and Sikandar at the end of 18th over. In the next 10 balls Amir and Mitchell only gave away seven runs before Asif Ali managed to end the innings with consecutive sixes taking his tally of HBL PSL sixes to 98 – only behind Fakhar’s 129. In doing so, Qalandars also breached the 200-run mark for the first time in this season. Amir and Razaullah picked up two wickets each.

Brief scores:

Lahore Qalandars beat Rawalpindiz by 32 runs at National Bank Stadium, Karachi

Lahore Qalandars 210-4, 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 84, Mohammad Farooq 63, Abdullah Shafique 26; Mohammad Amir 2-25, Razaullah 2-45) VS Rawalpindiz 178-9, 20 overs (Yasir Khan 58, Saad Masood 54; Haris Rauf 3-43, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-19, Usama Mir 2-29)

Player of the Match – Fakhar Zaman (Lahore Qalandars).