LAHORE: Defending champions Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi was delighted to beat debutants Hyderabad Kingsmen by 69 runs in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 curtain raiser at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday.
Opting to bat first, Gulandhar scored 199 runs for 6 thanks to Faqar Zaman’s magnificent half-century.
Although the holders endured a challenging phase with the bat in the middle overs, Sikandar Raza’s 24-run cameo and wicketkeeper-batsman Hasibullah Khan’s unbeaten 40 brought them back in control.
Captain Shaheen, who gave the finishing touch by hitting two successive sixes off the last two balls of the innings, was satisfied with his side’s performance despite admitting their struggles in the middle overs and asserting that they have plenty of firepower.
“We’ve enjoyed it, we’ve been together for the last week and had a good game time,” Shaheen said in the post-match presentation.
“Faqar and Naeem were good in the powerplay with the bat. We struggled a bit in the middle overs, but this is the beginning of a match and we have plenty of firepower,” he added.
Chasing a target of 200 to defend, the Gillanders bowlers dealt a decisive blow to the Kingsmen’s hopes of making a successful start to their PSL campaign as they bowled out the debutants for 130 in 20 overs.
Haris Rauf, Ubaid Shah and Raza jointly led the Qalandars’ bowling charge with two wickets each, while captain Shaheen and Mustafizur Rahman chipped in with a scalp each.
“Mustafizur and I started at the same time for Qalandars and we’re back together. Rauf has been good for us – sometimes we’ve made changes to the playing XI and it’s paid off,” Shaheen said of their bowling.
“When I bat, I try to create momentum for the team. We wanted to take wickets and create pressure,” he concluded.