PSL: Babar, Sharjeel keep Karachi hopes alive

Rituraj Borkakoty - The Kings now occupy the second place in the points table with nine points

A fine exhibition of shotmaking from the classy Babar Azam and his opening partner Sharjeel Khan kept the Karachi Kings' hopes of reaching the 2020 PSL qualifiers alive.
Desperately in search of a win, the Kings rode the wave of brilliance from Babar (69 not out, 46 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Sharjeel (74 not out, 59 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) as they beat Lahore Qalandars by 10 wickets on Thursday.
The Kings now occupy the second place in the points table with nine points.
Chasing 151 for victory, the Kings reached home in the 18th over as Babar registered his third half century of the tournament.
While Babar enthralled the fans with his delightful shots, Sharjeel could not have picked a better moment to regain form.
Having endured a tough time in the tournament, the 30-year-old batsman decided to launch a stunning assault on the Lahore bowlers.
Sharjeel wasn't afraid of clearing the ropes, hitting five sixes in what was his first half century of the tournament.
The elegant Babar, on the other hand, relied on his timing and placement to make the Lahore bowlers bleed.
Such was the brilliance of the two openers that the Lahore bowlers, including the talented Shaheen Shah Afridi, looked clueless.
Earlier, the Qalandars batsmen fell short by at least 30 runs after Karachi captain Imad Wasim had elected to field.
Sohail Akhtar (68, 49 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes), the Lahore captain, though, produced a superb knock to keep his team in the hunt.
Having lost Fakhar Zaman (17) in the sixth over, Akhtar, the 34-year-old opening batsman, also saw Chris Lynn (5) and the prolific Ben Dunk (9) fall cheaply at the National Stadium.
After Zaman played on to Umaid Asif (2/34), Lynn was caught at deep midwicket off Arshad Iqbal (2/15) while attempting a pull shot.
Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Dunk, one of the top scorers in the current edition of the tournament who has entertained the Pakistani fans with his ability to hit sixes for fun, too perished to a short ball off Asif.
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Akhtar remained a picture of composure as he rotated the strike smartly and never missed out on the boundary balls.
But Lahore would have still struggled to post a decent total if not for the efforts of Mohammad Hafeez (35 not out, 22 balls, 3 fours and 1).
The 39-year-old Hafeez brought all his experience to the table as his classy strokeplay gave his team's bowlers something to bowl at.
But it wasn't enough in the end as Azam and Khan sucked the life out of Lahore bowlers.
BRIEF SCORES:
Karachi Kings beat Lahore Qalandars by 10 wickets.
Lahore Qalandars 150/5 in 20 overs (Sohail Akhtar 68, Mohammad Hafeez 35; Arshad Iqbal 2/15, Umaid Asif 2/34). Karachi Kings 151/0 in 17.1 overs (Sharjeel Khan 74 not out, Babar Azam 69 not out).
 
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com