Lahore (PCB Report):
Karachi Kings registered a 14-run win against Quetta Gladiators on the back of all-round performance of Moeen Ali and Hasan Ali’s four wickets to open their account in the HBL Pakistan Super League 11 here at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.
Chasing 182 to win, Quetta got off to a flying start courtesy Shamyl Hussain’s 21-ball half-century but Hasan Ali’s sixth haul of four wickets in HBL PSL and Moeen’s neat spell of 4-0-26-1 delivered the triumph for Karachi Kings.
Shamyl and Saud gathered 79 runs off the first 7.1 overs to put the chase well on track for Quetta. HBL PSL debutant Shamyl threw the gauntlet with five fours and four sixes to stamp his authority in a 24-ball 52-run knock.
The young left-hander ransacked 19 runs off Mir Hamza’s sixth over hitting three fours and brought up his half-century in style with a six.
Karachi Kings staged a comeback right after the end of field restrictions with Adam Zampa bowling a four-run over, while Salman Ali Agha removed Shamyl in the subsequent over giving away four as well.
Zampa removed Khawaja Mohammad Nafay in the ninth over followed by player of the match Moeen snapping Saud (33, 25b, 6x4s) as Gladiators managed 95-3 at the halfway mark.
Needing 87 off 60, Gladiators were squeezed by Kings’ disciplined bowling with the equation coming down to 35 off the last two overs.
In the meanwhile, Hasan eked out the vital scalp of Rilee Rossouw (25, 21b, 3x4s) in the 16th over to end a 29-run fourth-wicket stand. He picked up the wickets of Hasan Nawaz (19, 24b, 2x4s), Tom Curran and Ahmed Daniyal in the penultimate over to almost seal the game for Kings finishing with 4-27 and took his tally to 129 wickets in HBL PSL history – six best of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 123.
Mir Hamza defended 30 off the last over as Gladiators could only manage 15. Ben McDermott’s 13-ball 25-run not out blitz comprising three fours and one six went in vain after walking in at 124-4 in 15.1 overs.
Earlier, Moeen helped Karachi Kings to a fine total of 181-7 in 20 overs with a rapid 29-ball 48 not out following David Warner and Salman Ali Agha’s thirties.
At the start of Kings’ innings Alzarri Joseph drew the first blood removing Muhammad Waseem for a three-ball duck. Salman and Warner then launched an assault on the Gladiators bowling till the fourth over.
Salman struck a four and six off Tom Curran in the second over across four balls, while Warner slammed four back-to-back boundaries against Alzarri Joseph in the next over to push Gladiators on the backfoot.
Ahmed Daniyal then got hit for a hat-trick of fours by Salman Ali Agha in the fourth over before pinning him leg-before to bag the first of his three scalps. Kings finished the powerplay with 60 runs on the board for the loss of two wickets.
Warner (35, 22b, 4x4s, 1x6) then got together with Saad Baig (30, 23b, 6x4s) to stitch 43 runs off 30 balls before Daniyal broke the stand landing the third punch for Gladiators.
From this point Quetta Gladiators got back in the innings taking three for 21, which also included Abrar accounting for Warner and Usman Tariq castling Azam Khan for a run-a-ball 14 comprising one six.
Moeen walked in at 100-4 after 10.3 overs and kept the innings intact despite Gladiators clawing their way back into the game after the halfway mark. He hit four fours and three sixes on his return to the HBL PSL after playing nine matches for Multan Sultans in the 2020 season.
Karachi managed to stitch three valuable partnerships after Moeen and Azam Khan struggled to get going in a 17-ball 10-run stand. Moeen shared 31 for the sixth wicket with Khushdil Shah (12, 8b, 2x4s), 20 off 11 with Shahid Aziz (8, 8b, 1x4) and an unscathed 21 off nine with Hasan Ali (7 not out, 3b, 1x4) for the eighth wicket.
Daniyal returned figures of 4-0-36-3, while Joseph picked up two wickets.
Match 2 – Karachi Kings beat Quetta Gladiators by 14 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Karachi Kings 181-7, 20 overs (Moeen Ali 48 not out, David Warner 35, Saad Baig 30, Salman Ali Agha 22; Ahmed Daniyal 3-36, Alzarri Joseph 2-32)
Quetta Gladiators 167-7, 20 overs (Shamyl Hussain 52, Saud Shakeel 33, Ben McDermott 25 not out, Rilee Rossouw 25; Hasan Ali 4-27)
Player of the match – Moeen Ali (Karachi Kings)
Saturday’s fixtures:
Peshawar Zalmi v Rawalpindiz at 2.30pm PKT
Multan Sultans v Islamabad United at 7pm PKT
