ABU DHABI: Noor Ahmed bowled a brilliant spell and helped Karachi Kings restrict Lahore Qalandars to 169/7 and win the 27th PSL 6 contest by seven runs.
Noor and Mohammad Ilyas bagged two wickets each to earn a much-needed victory to the Kings as they come closer to playoffs qualification.
Earlier Babar Azam and Martin Guptill scored 88 runs together as Kings posted 176/5 against Qalandars in 20 overs.
Kings came out to bat first after winning the toss. Sharjeel Khan struck a six and a four in first over to provide a quick start to the men in blue. But, Shaheen Afridi picked him up in the third over to reduce Kings to 21-2.
Thereafter, Babar and Guptill joined hands and rescued Kings to 109-1 in 12.5 overs. Babar scored 54 off 44 balls with the help of seven boundaries whilst Guptill made 43 laced with two boundaries and three sixes.
Imad Wasim played a cameo, in the end, to finish off things well for Kings. He scored 30 runs off 19 balls spread over three boundaries and a six. Danish made 16 runs including a boundary and a six.
For Qalandars, Rashid Khan bagged two wickets while Shaheen, Ahmed Daniyal and Mohammad Hafeez shared a wicket apiece.
In reply, Qalandars were off to a decent start with Sohail Akhtar and Fakhar Zaman sharing the crease together to score 38 runs. Mohammad Ilyas made the breakthrough for Kings in the fifth over when he got Sohail LBW. The skipper scored 21 with the help of four boundaries.
Hafeez made run-a-ball 36 but remained in trouble against young Noor who outclassed him with his clever bowling. He gave away his wicket to him with a straight catch at extra cover.
Tim David (34) and James Faulkner (33) brought in a little twist in the end by scoring 58 runs together at the sixth wicket. But, Abbas Afridi and Ilyas got rid of them to bring Kings back in the run.
Apart from Ilyas and Noor, Imad and Abbas shared a wicket each. Amir bowled a contained 19th over while conceded 31 runs in his four overs.
Toss
Kings won the toss and decided to bat first against Qalandars in 27th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 6.
SQUADS
Karachi Kings: Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Martin Guptill, Najibullah Zadran, Imad Wasim, Chadwick Walton, Noor Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Ilyas
Lahore Qalandars: Sohail Akhtar, Fakhar Zaman, Agha Salman, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk, Tim David, James Faulkner, Rashid Khan, Ahmed Daniyal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
