KARACHI: The brother of Shan Masood, seated in the VIP gallery, appeared anxious, his heart beating and head in hands. He spoke for the majority of those in attendance, who had come to watch Shan’s side, the Karachi Kings, play Lahore Qalandars on Sunday at the National Bank Stadium.
The Kings needed a victory to maintain their aspirations, and the Qalandars, who were already eliminated from the playoff race, were hoping to deliver a crushing blow to them. This was also a battle for bragging rights in the rivalry between the two cities on a breezy night.
Shoaib Malik has great expectations for Shan, his brother in the stands, and the spectators. And the old hand didn’t let his team down, persevering through drama, a comedy of mistakes, and the fierce battle of the Qalandars to take his team home with three wickets remaining.
In an attempt to surpass a target of 178 runs set by Lahore after half-centuries by Abdullah Shafique and Fakhar Zaman, Karachi’s top order laid the groundwork for the chase with partnership scores of 40 and 59 runs between Tim Seifert and Shan, respectively, and between the latter and James Vince.
Karachi, however, needed an anchor when Sikandar Raza castled Shan and the entering Kieron Pollard was caught off guard by a deft slower yorker by Tayyab Abbas. Malik offered assistance.
His 27 off 17 undefeated innings were primarily about helping his teammates on the opposite end. However, Seifert was ran out as part of a commotion that occurred on the pitch.
However, Irfan Khan Niazi, Karachi’s youthful pick who has gained confidence throughout the season, came along and they kept going after Tayyab and David Wiese both had boundaries before Malik clipped Wiese for his first boundary in the eighteenth over.
As Karachi passed the 150-run mark, Irfan (35) displayed incredible control and skill by playing a brilliant square-drive off Lahore captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and chipping the pacer over the short fine-leg fielder for three fours in the following over.
When Malik hit fast bowler Zaman Khan for two boundaries, the tide nearly swung in favor of Karachi, needing just 17 runs to win in the final two overs.
But Shaheen only went back to smash Irfan’s stumps after he scored 52 off 25 with Malik. Replays later showed that Anwar Ali was caught in the deep two balls, but it was not declared out.
Malik furthered the insult to Qalandars’ injury when he lofted Shaheen for a four down the ground. The captain of Lahore was furious on the field, objecting to the earlier umpire ruling.
In the last over, as jitters took over the ground, Zaman Khan created further drama by forcing a leading edge off Anwar’s bat and racing to his right to take a diving catch.
Karachi’s jitters overcame them, resulting in another misunderstanding between Arafat Minhas and Malik. This time, both players ended up on the losing end, with Arafat being the one who lost out.
Malik smashed on a low, wide full toss with three runs needed to win off the final ball. The ball crossed the gap between point and short third-man for four runs, setting up wild celebrations throughout the stands.
After being sent to bat, Lahore scored most of their runs on the 54 off 35 and 55 off 39 knocks of Fakhar and Abdullah, respectively, until Raza and Wiese increased their total to 177-5.
During the powerplay, Lahore was limited to 44-1. Tahir Baig, the opener, was dismissed early by medium pacer Anwar, and Fakhar struck some powerful hits, including a six off pacer Blessing Muzarabani that went over the fence.
Fakhar and the initial downpour In the ninth over, Abdullah hit two sixes against Malik to extend their partnership to fifty runs.
After sweeping leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood’s errant delivery down the leg-side for another boundary, Fakhar achieved his half-century off 32 balls.
However, just when it looked like Fakhar would unleash his trademark fireworks, Irfan stole the show with his electrifying fielding demeanor. After tucking Kieron Pollard deep midwicket, Fakhar tried to jog for a single, but he couldn’t hold his ground as Irfan hit the big one.
Lahore passed 100 runs thanks to boundaries set by Abdullah and the new Shai Hope in the twelfth over.
However, Zahid’s first wicket came from the West Indies hitter, whose attempt to clear long-on fell into Malik’s clutches on the boundary.
Two balls after Shaheen was bowled off Zahid’s bowl, Pollard made up for Hasan Ali’s terrible effort at fielding by dismissing the Lahore captain on the following ball.
In the 16th over, Abdullah, who had previously chipped Hasan for a ridiculous tickle over the wicketkeeper’s head, hit his half century in 36 balls when Anwar caught his flick at square-leg.
In the eighteenth over, Raza hit Anwar for two fours over the off-side. In the last over, Muzarabani was bowled out for a six apiece by Wiese, who smashed a huge long-on. In the last over, Hasan would give the Namibian international two more.
Karachi Kings prevailed by a margin of three wickets.
