16-year-old Noor Ahmad leads Karachi Kings to nail-biting win
Karachi Kings were given a scare at the death by James Faulkner and Tim David, but held on to keep their qualification hopes alive
Karachi Kings were given a scare at the death by James Faulkner and Tim David, but held on to keep their qualification hopes alive
Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: Varun Shetty
2.10am That is all from our coverage tonight. Good night on behalf of Danyal, Thilak and Binoy - and see you tomorrow!
Imad: I think we were 20 runs short to be honest. It was the pressure of the wickets. The bowlers bowled really really well, according to the plan, and it came off. It's the end of the tournament and you should peak at the right time. We have one more game and if we win, we go through. We are in the right frame of mind. We lose three games, it was really disappointing. We stood and up spoke in the team meetings.
Ahmad: I'm feeling very happy. We tried hard to win the match and played out 100%.
Noor Ahmad is the Player of the Match.
Sohail Akhtar: I think the batting was alright. After the powerplay, for 6-7 overs, we had a bad time. Overall we were alright. But we had lapses in the field that costed about 20 runs. Noor and Imad bowled good spells. The spin overs in the middle - if we went even run-a-ball, we would've done this. Our bowling's going well. Batting is where we've had problems. Having said that, the middle order has done slightly better in the last two matches, so we'll take that forward.
Qasmi: "The better fielding side has won. LQ did not deserve to win today."
Sachi: "Lahore was at the top of the game and now- smh- they really do have badluck with the team."
Ali: "You can't be scoring 36 off 36 balls or 19 off 26 balls in a T20. That's a crime especially when you have played in the opening powerplay. Poor from Fakhar and Hafeez"
ABAE: "Tim David can hit them big but he's not been put in the best situations here with LQ. Needs to be higher up the order."
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1.58am Whew, what a game that turned into at the end. Lahore were off to a blazing start in chase, 34 off the first three overs, but lost all their steam when the spinners came on. 16-year-old Noor Ahmad was the star in that phase, with his two wickets for 18 complementing decent spells from Imad Wasim and Danish Aziz. Fakhar Zaman and Hafeez, two marquee players in this side, managed only 55 off 62 balls between them. The pitch did seem to be a touch slower, but Lahore will no doubt feel that they left runs out there. In the end, it took a sensational, stunning stand - 58 off 24 - between Tim David and James Faulkner to keep them in the match. And they kept them in it until two balls were left. But you know when you get six sixes and three fours off the last four overs - and still lose by seven - that something wasn't quite right with the approach earlier. Doesn't help to drop five catches either. Also consider AMir's over for only 7 in the 19th in a whirlwind phase like that.
It's two points for Karachi, who also had saviours in their allrounders at the end of their batting innings. They go to eight points with a game in hand, but remain in fifth on net run rate.
12 off 2. Surely now Ilyas will be looking to go back to the yorker. What is Rashid going to do about it?
Three sixes needed.
JP Faulkner c Guptill b Mohammad Ilyas 33 (18b 1x4 3x6) SR: 183.33
18 off 4. This needs to be a six...
Tushar Garg: "I remember someone mentioning that the 7 runs scored off the No ball of Rauf will haunt Lahore at the end of the chase. It looks like he was spot on with his prediction! "
Karachi Kings were given a scare at the death by James Faulkner and Tim David, but held on to keep their qualification hopes alive