LAHORE: Captain David Warner’s half-century and Khushtil Shah’s late blitz helped Karachi Kings to a 5-wicket win over defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the 35th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11th series.
Chasing a tough target of 200 runs, the visitors rattled off five wickets and 8 balls to keep their playoff hopes alive.
In the second over, Ubaid Shah dismissed right-arm opener Jason Roy (nine) with just 10 runs left for the Kings.
Warner later shared brief partnerships with Reza Hendricks and Salman Ali Agha, who could contribute 10 and 14 respectively.
The skipper then got ample support from the other end in the form of Moeen Ali, and the experienced duo put on a blistering 58-run stand before Ubaid struck again, the latter hitting 39 off 17 balls, with four sixes and a four.
After scoring 14 off 8 balls, the Kings suffered another nine-ball setback as wicketkeeper batsman Azam Khan was cleaned up by Daniel Sams.
His dismissal paved the way for Khushdil Shah to come out to bat at number 7 and the left-handed batsman turned the game around with a belligerent onslaught, the highlight of which was Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 23 in the 18th over.
With 11 runs needed off 12 balls, Khushtil Harris hit Rauf for successive sixes and steered the Kings over the line in the last over.
Khushdil remained unbeaten on 44 off 14 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes, while Warner top-scored with 63 off 44 balls with 10 fours and a six.
Ubaid took 3 wickets for 41 runs in his four overs, while Daniel Sams and Harris Rauf claimed one wicket each.
Kings captain David Warner’s decision came first as the holders piled up 199/6 in their 20 overs, courtesy of a century-plus partnership between Fakhar and Shafiq.
However, the Qalandars kept their innings open as Warner sent back young opener Mohammad Farooq (18) for 24 straight in the third over.
Shafiq joined Faqar in the middle and the duo put on a 110-run partnership in just 61 balls for the second wicket until they were dismissed by Moeen Ali in the 14th over to put Qalandars in a commanding position.
The left-handed opener scored 61 off 41 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes.
Moeen dismissed Charit Asalanga (nil) in his next over to bring the total to 148/3.
Shafiq, on the other hand, was cleaned up by debutant Rizwanullah in the next over and returned after top-scoring for Qalandars with 62 off 36 balls with five fours and three sixes.
With the scoreboard reading 160/4 in 16.5 overs, all-rounders Sikandar Raza and Daniel Sams (20) put on a 23-run partnership that was run out on the fifth delivery of the last over.
Raza, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on 18 off 12 balls and made sure to add crucial runs to the Qalandars’ total in the back-row with captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, who scored 10 off four balls.
Moeen was the standout bowler for the Kings with 2 wickets for just 26 runs in his four overs and Rizwanullah and Hasan Ali a wicket each.