The Karachi Kings feared the deaths of James Faulkner and Tim David, but held on to keep their qualifying hopes alive

Kings of karachi 176 for 5 (Azam 54, Guptill 43, Rashid 2-25) beat Lahore Qalandars 169 for 7 (Hafeez 36, David 34, Ahmad 2-19) by seven points

Lahore started off the chase casually, with Fakhar Zaman dropping some six from Imad Wasim on the first lap, but the wheels quickly came loose. Mohammad Ilyas got rid of Sohail Akhtar early before Noor started strangling the hitters. The demand rate had inflated beyond 16 when he finished his spell, but lack of focus with the ball allowed David and Faulkner to work their way into a 24-ball partnership that added 58 points and left Qalandars needing 27 out of two. However, Abbas Afridi made David lose the hole, and Qalandars ultimately lost the fight.

Noor’s teenage dream

The icing on the cake came with the last bullet of his spell, however, when Hafeez finally received the knockout blow. Hafeez tried to put him upside down over the blanket, but this particular delivery had been pushed through, and Hafeez struggled to gain height. It would go straight to Imad Wasim for extra cover, and Noor had his second, conceding just 19 in his spell.

The Enchanted Sleeves of Azam

It will be some time before Azam can complain that fortune does not favor him. After perhaps being a bit unlucky against Peshawar Zalmi to be considered lbw when the ball might have missed the leg stump, the cricket gods caught up with him and then some more. This was only the second time Dunk hit an outside edge of Azam’s bat, but luck was only starting to work at that point. He survived a lbw scream from Faulkner about the width of a hair in the fourth, struggling to get his rhythm.

Not that he wouldn’t have other chances. Haris Rauf rushed at him with a sharp bouncer he skied to the midwicket, where backup outfielder Zaid Alam spoiled a routine high hold. In the 9th, he got stuck in the middle of the crease after a confusion with Guptill, only for Rashid to spoil the chance to run. Rauf quickly went from aggrieved bowler to the man responsible for once again pardoning him, putting an absolute keeper on Ahmed Daniyal’s third man of bowling. Daniyal’s sufferings were not over, although Rashid allowed Babar another life by knocking him down.

It almost seemed like the Qalandars had forgotten just because he was from Lahore didn’t mean he was on their side. Hafeez finally ended the toughest of the Pakistani first batter’s innings, sticking to one point as Azam ultimately fell for a forgettable 44 54 balls.

Karachi pressure

A heavy batting effort from the Kings was followed by a temperamental start with the ball, and for the top three in the Qalandars chase, elimination came in hand. Thirty-four points were looted in the first three overs, with Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Ilyas all getting pounded. But Amir’s second pass proved to be a change of momentum, mixing up changes of pace with a few Yorkers to brake. Ilyas carried the momentum from there, a wicket maiden representing Akhtar, in addition to putting Qalandars on the back foot. Noor did much of the rest in the middle of the overs, but without stopping a seemingly overwhelming top order from Qalandars, the task for the 16-year-old would have turned out to be much more complicated.

Where they stand

The Karachi Kings move up to eight points and are behind the fourth-placed Multan Sultans in net run rate. Lahore Qalandars remains stuck on ten points after his third consecutive defeat, but for now retains his grip on third place.