Lahore win thriller against Karachi in PSL

Dubai - Narine stars in 'Super Over' as Qalandars put Kings' progress on hold

The 24th match in the HBL Pakistan Super League between Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings could go down in the record books as one of the all-time T20 Classics.

To begin with, it had all the ingredients of a thriller. There was agony on one hand when sitters were dropped, and on the other hand there were heart-stopping moments when some jaw-dropping catches were taken in the outfield.

There were wild celebrations in the Karachi camp when a wicket was claimed off the last ball after Lahore needed three runs from it. But, that joy turned to despair a few moments later when the third umpire declared it as a no-ball. While a pall of gloom descended on the Karachi side of the fence, on the other side it was the turn of the Lahore fans to bang their drums.

The match, which had gone into the wee hours of Monday morning, kept swinging like a pendulum. Lahore needed two runs from the free-hit, but all they could get was a single which resulted in a tie.

The umpires had to resort to the 'Super Over' and there is no better bowler than Sunil Narine in such situations.

The cool-as-cucumber West Indian off-spinner is the first and only bowler in T20 history to have bowled a maiden 'Super Over' during a Caribbean Premier League match in 2014.

Mohammad Amir did well for Karachi to restrict Lahore to 11 from six balls but Narine went one better. And he did it in his own inimitable style.

"Brendon asked me whether I wanted to bowl, so I told him 'I'd try my best'," said Narine after the match.

Narine had to bowl against his compatriot Lendl Simmons. "It didn't help that I was bowling to Lendl, he knows my game. No matter what a spinner bowls, batsmen can get under it, so I tried to bowl flat," said a modest Narine.

But even Lendl failed to counter Narine's variations and managed only two runs. With a ball to go Shahid Afridi pulled Narine for a six but by then Lahore had the match in their bag.

McCullum's side were already out of the reckoning for the eliminators but they managed to salvage some pride with their second successive win in as many days.

Karachi had a chance to dislodge table-toppers Quetta Gladiators. Instead they remain in third position with nine points. They play Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United in their last two matches in Sharjah.

For the record this was the second 'Super Over' match of the third edition of the PSL. And, ironically Lahore were involved in both, after losing the first one.

clareto@khaleejtimes.com

Brief scores:
Karachi Kings 163 for 5 (Babar 61, Simmons 55) lost to Lahore Qalandars 163 for 8 (Salman 50) on Super Over.