Tag: PSL

RAWALPINDI: Quetta Gladiators have won the toss and opted to bowl first against Karachi Kings in the 22nd match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

PLAYING XI

Karachi Kings: Adam Rossington, Matthew Wade, Tayyab Tahir, Shoaib Malik, Qasim Akram, Imad Wasim (c), James Fuller, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Mohammad Musa

Quetta Gladiators: Martin Guptill, Omair Yousuf, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Iftikhar Ahmed, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nawaz, Umar Akmal, Dwaine Pretorius, Naseem Shah, Naveen-ul-Haq.

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches 15, Quetta Gladiators 10, Karachi Kings 5

LAHORE: Sam Billings scored a magnificent half-century before a collective effort from the bowlers led Lahore Qalandars to beat Multan Sultans and qualify for the playoffs of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

Set to chase 181, the Sultans fell 21 runs short of glory as the visitors could accumulate 159/7 in 20 overs.

The Sultans’ openers struggled early on in the run chase against a strong bowling attack of the Qalandars and raised a cautious 48-run partnership before Zaman Khan dismissed Shan Masood soon after the powerplay, who could score 19 off 20.

Sultans’ skipper Mohammad Rizwan then looked to anchor the run chase with promoted Usama Mir and could add 16 runs to the stand before falling victim to Sikandar Raza in the 10th over.

The skipper played a cautious knock of a 27-ball 30, which featured two boundaries and a six.

Rizwan’s dismissal sparked a frustrating collapse in the Sultans’ batting lineup as the visitors slipped to 87/5 in the 13th over; courtesy of an outstanding bowling spell of Rashid Khan, who returned with 3/15 in his four overs.

Wickets then kept tumbling of Sultans in the run chase which also halted the flow of runs and the visitors, consequently restricted to 159/7 after a late retaliation from Kieron Pollard.

Pollard top-scored with a fighting 39 off 28 balls, smashing two boundaries and three sixes but failed to steer his side over the line.

Besides Rashid, Hussain Talat, Sikandar, Haris Rauf and Zaman struck out a batter each.

Opting to bat first, the Qalandars posted a decent total on the board at the back of a vital third-wicket partnership between Billings and Shafique.

Earlier, the hosts got off to a dismal start as their in-form opener Fakhar Zaman perished for a duck in the first over.

Following the early setback, Tahir Baig stitched a crucial partnership with Abdullah and launched a counterattack on the Sultans’ bowlers as they added 50 runs at a quick pace before Ihsanullah dismissed the latter, who could score 17 off 11.

Abdullah then joined hands with newly-arrived Billings and stitched another vital partnership for the Qalandars.

The pair raised 69 runs for the third wicket and put Qalandars in contention for a big total before Kieron Pollard removed in-form Abdullah with a stunning caught and bowled. He fell just two runs short of his half-century as he scored a 35-ball 48, laced up with six boundaries and a six.

Billings carried his brilliance with the bat and soon brought up his half-century but Pollard struck again in his next over to bring an end to his brilliant knock. Billings top-scored with 54 off 35 deliveries, hitting six boundaries and two sixes.

The Qalandars then began to lose wickets at regular intervals but the Sultans’ bowlers failed to stop the flow of runs as some vital contributions from Sikandar Raza (14), David Wiese (15) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (9) took the side to 180 in their allotted overs.

Anwar Ali, Ihsanullah, Pollard and Abbas Afridi bagged two wickets each, while Sameen Gul could pick up a wicket.

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday unveiled the two women’s squads for the three Women’s League exhibition matches, which will be played ahead of the HBL PSL 8 matches in Rawalpindi on 8, 10 and 11 March.

Bismah Maroof will captain Amazons, which include Ireland’s Laura Delany, England’s trio of Lauren Winfield-Hill, Maia Bouchier and Tammy Beaumont, and Australia’s Tess Flintoff. Nida Dar will lead the Super Women, which will also comprise Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu, Danni Wyatt of England, Jahanara Alam of Bangladesh, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Lea Tahuhu of New Zealand.

This means world’s 10 leading foreign players from seven countries will be represented in the three matches, which are billed as soft launch of the Pakistan Women’s League, which is tentatively planned for September.

These 10 foreign stars will be accompanied by Pakistan’s 20 elite players, four U19 players who featured in the recently held ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup (Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Shawaal Zulfiqar and Syeda Aroob Shah) and two emerging cricketers (Fatima Khan and Syeda Masooma Zahra).

The 36 cricketers have been equally divided into two sides with the playing line-ups to include a maximum of four and minimum of three foreign players and a minimum of one emerging or U19 player.

Of the 10 foreign players, eight cricketers recently featured in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa with Delany and Athapaththu captaining Ireland and Sri Lanka, respectively.

South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt is one of the biggest stars in women’s cricket. She was selected in the Team of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 and is the sixth-ranked batter in the world. Similarly, Danni Wyatt is one of the recognisable names in women’s cricket following her 1,776 ODI and 2,369 T20I runs. Along with Suzie Bates of New Zealand, Wyatt is the second most capped T20I player with 143 matches, eight matches behind India’s Harmanpreet Kaur.

Squads:

Amazons: Bismah Maroof (c), Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Fatima Khan, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Gull Feroza, Kainat Imtiaz, Laura Delany (Ireland), Lauren Winfield-Hill (England), Maia Bouchier (England), Nashra Sundhu, Sadaf Shamas, Tammy Beaumont (England), Tess Flintoff (Australia) and Umm-e-Hani.

Super Women: Nida Dar (c) Aimen Anwar, Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Danni Wyatt (England), Iram Javed, Jahanara Alam (Bangladesh), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand), Muneeba Ali, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Syeda Aroob Shah, Syeda Masooma Zahra and Tuba Hassan.

MATCHES ITINERARY:

March 8: 1st Match, 2 PM, Pindi Cricket Stadium
March 10: 1st Match, 2 PM, Pindi Cricket Stadium
March 11: 1st Match, 2 PM, Pindi Cricket Stadium

READ: PCB reveals foreign players for women’s exhibition matches

LAHORE: Home side Lahore Qalandars have won the toss and elected to bat first against Multan Sultans in the 20th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

PLAYING XIs

Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Tahir Baig, Sam Billings Abdullah Shafique, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Shan Masood, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, Kieron Pollard, Khushdil Shah, Anwar Ali, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Sameen Gul, Ihsanullah

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches 14, Lahore Qalandars 7, Multan Sultans 7

RAWALPINDI: Karachi Kings’ wicketkeeper batter Adam Rossington coined his side’s inability to get wickets in the middle overs as the reason behind their close six-wicket defeat against Islamabad United in the 19th match of the Pakistan Super League.

Rossington, who played a crucial 20-run knock up the order, spoke to the media here and expressed his disappointment over the Kings’ six-wicket defeat against United before asserting that the game got away from his side in the wicketless middle period.

“It is disappointing obviously to lose another game on the bounce. I think we probably got to a par score and our captain played really well,” said Rossington.

“And then, a few early wickets got us into the game, I think it was just that middle period in which we couldn’t take wickets, that’s where the game got away from us and those two lads [Azam Khan and Faheem Ashraf] played really well and didn’t really give us a chance,” he maintained.

Rossington then went on to term Kings’ total a roundabout par after a slow start before asserting that the ordinary bowling cost them a crucial match.

“I think it was probably roundabout par from where we were especially, we lost early wickets and still took it to 202. Obviously, our captain played brilliantly again today to get us to what was probably a par score or maybe we could have added 10 more,” said Rossington.

“I think we’ve been pretty good on the hold with the bat so far, it’s just with the ball, other day we were a bit expensive at the death and today it was the middle period, not taking wickets. I think it’s one of the things that if you can take wickets and get new batters coming at the crease, it’s always easier to slow down the score,” he concluded.

It is worth mentioning that the Kings remained at the fifth position with four points in eight matches in the PSL 8 standings with a narrow six-wicket defeat against Islamabad United.

Kings’ skipper Imad’s brilliant knock of 92 runs off just 54 balls went in vain as Azam Khan’s quickfire 72 sealed the deal for the United.

READ: Azam blitz trumps Imad’s heroics as Islamabad United edge Karachi Kings

RAWALPINDI: Azam Khan struck a magnificent 72-run knock in the run chase and powered Islamabad United to seal a close six-wicket victory over Karachi Kings in the 19th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

Set to chase 202, the United steered to victory in the final over as the side finished at 202/4 at the back of an astounding knock by wicketkeeper batter Azam.

The United were off to a dismal start in the run chase as Mohammad Amir once again struck in his first over to hand Karachi Kings an early breakthrough in the form of Colin Munro’s dismissal, who could score 11 off five.

Following an early blow, Alex Hales joined hands with Rassie van der Dussen and scripted his side’s recovery with a brisk 50-run partnership for the second wicket.

The duo appeared in great touch before Aamer Yamin castled Alex Hales at the brink of the powerplay. He scored a quickfire 34 off just 16 deliveries, laced up with four boundaries and two sixes.

Tabraiz Shamsi castled his compatriot van der Dussen in his first over and powered Kings to halt United to 69/3 in the eighth over.

Following the slump, Azam anchored the run chase with a vital fourth-wicket partnership with Faheem Ashraf and put his side in complete control.

The pair added 125 runs at a quick pace before Faheem perished in the 19th over due to a mix-up while running between the wickets.

The left-handed batter fell short of his half-century by nine runs as he scored 41 off 32 deliveries with the help of a boundary and two sixes.

Meanwhile, Azam carried his bat all the way through before Asif Ali gave the final touches to the pursuit with 10 off just two deliveries in the first two deliveries of the 20th over.

Azam top-scored for the United with a quickfire 72 off a mere 41 balls, smashing a dozen boundaries including four sixes.

For the Kings, Amir, Shamsi and Yamin could pick up a wicket.

Opting to bat first, the Kings piled up a massive total against home side United in the must-win clash at the back of a scintillating 92-run knock by their captain Imad Wasim.

Earlier, the Kings were off to an unwanted start as Sharjeel Khan fell in the third over after managing to score just eight off six deliveries.

With their side rocked with an early setback, Adam Rossington and Tayyab Tahir launched a counter-attack on the United’s bowlers as the pair stitched a brief yet effective partnership for the second wicket; raising 37 runs in just 16 deliveries before the latter’s dismissal.

Tayyab looked to heave Tom Curran’s length delivery but ended up mistiming it straight to Hasan Ali at mid-off and walked back after scoring a brisk 19 off just eight balls.

The Kings were then jolted with a major blow as Rossington (20) and Shoaib Malik (12) departed in quick succession; resulting in the Kings slipping to 78/4 in the ninth over.

With his side losing momentum, Imad stood up for his team and took on the United bowlers with his belligerent hitting all over the park.

The captain put on a terrific 99-run partnership with Irfan Khan Niazi and put his side in complete command to post a big total.

Imad was the core aggressor of the fifth-wicket partnership, while Niazi held his end firm before a spectacular teamwork catch by Hasan and Rassie van der Dussen dropped curtains on his vital 20-ball 30, which featured four boundaries.

Imad continued his onslaught after Niazi’s dismissal and received significant support from Matthew Wade, who scored 13 not out off six deliveries, to power Kings past the 200-run mark.

Imad top-scored for his side with an unbeaten 92 off 54 deliveries, hitting 11 boundaries and two sixes.

Curran led the United’s bowling attack with two wickets but was expensive, while Rumman, Faheem and Hasan struck out a batter each.

RAWALPINDI: Azam Khan struck a magnificent 72-run knock in the run chase and powered Islamabad United to seal a close six-wicket victory over Karachi Kings in the 19th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

IU 204/4 (19.2 Overs)

Yamin to bowl the final

IU 194/4 (19 Overs)

Tye continues, to bowl the 19th

IU 183/3 (18 Overs)

Amir back for his final over

IU 171/3 (17 Overs)

Tye comes back

IU 160/3 (16 Overs)

Shamsi comes to bowl his last

IU 145/3 (15 Overs)

Yamin replaces Tye

IU 131/3 (14 Overs)

Amir comes back

IU 119/3 (13 Overs)

Tye replaces Imad

IU 110/3 (12 Overs)

Shamsi comes again

IU 94/3 (11 Overs)

Imad replaces Malik

IU 81/3 (10 Overs)

Shamsi continues

IU 77/3 (9 Overs)

Malik continues

IU 72/3 (8 Overs)

7.2: Short on middle, Rassie goes to pull and the ball skids very low under the shot to clang into middle and off stump halfway up.

Tabraiz Shamsi comes into the attack

IU 67/2 (7 Overs)

Shoaib Malik comes to bowl

IU 62/2 (6 Overs)

5.6: Fullish length ball tailing in towards the middle, Hales goes for a huge heave over the leg side and misses and the ball disturbs the timber.

Yamin continues

IU 55/1 (5 Overs)

Andrew Tye into the attack

IU 44/1 (4 Overs)

Aamer Yamin comes into the attack

IU 33/1 (3 Overs)

Amir continues

IU 22/1 (2 Overs)

Imad Wasim to bowl from the other end

IU 12/1 (1 Over)

0.6: Amir bowls a slower ball wide at the seventh stump. Munro went early and skies this over Shoaib at mid-off.

Colin Munro and Alex Hales come out to open the innings for the United. Mohammad Amir to bowl the first over.

KARACHI KINGS vs ISLAMABAD UNITED (2nd INNINGS)

Karachi Kings’ skipper Imad Wasim led his side from the front with a magnificent 92-run knock and powered his side to post a mammoth 201/5 against Islamabad United in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

KK 201/5 (20 Overs)

Rumman to bowl the final over

KK 188/5 (19 Overs)

18.1: Niazi charges down the wicket and skies this a mile high to long-on. Hasan Ali tracks across to his left and takes a catch while falling over the rope and flicks it out of his hand to Rassie coming across from long-off.

Curran to bowl the 19th

KK 177/4 (18 Overs)

Hasan continues, to bowl his last

KK 165/4 (17 Overs)

Curran replaces Rumman

KK 149/4 (16 Overs)

Hasan comes back

KK 136/4 (15 Overs)

Rumman replaces Curran

KK 119/4 (14 Overs)

Shadab comes to bowl his last

KK 112/4 (13 Overs)

Curran replaces Faheem

KK 103/4 (12 Overs)

Shadab comes again

KK 98/4 (11 Overs)

Faheem continues

KK 86/4 (10 Overs)

Shadab continues

KK 78/4 (9 Overs)

8.5: Faheem takes out the center of middle stump! Bowled on a good to fullish length darting inward and castles Shoaib beating him between bat and pad driving.

Faheem replaces Mubasir

KK 70/3 (8 Overs)

Shadab Khan comes into the attack

KK 67/3 (7 Overs)

Mubasir Khan comes to bowl after the powerplay

KK 61/3 (6 Overs)

5.1: Slower ball lands full on fourth stump, Rossington goes a touch early and flicks this high trying to clear mid-on but it hangs in the air for Rassie van der Dussen to take a simple catch.

Hasan replaces Faheem

KK 53/2 (5 Overs)

4.5: Curran bowls the length ball, which followed Tayyab, who tried to go inside out but mistimed it towards the mid-off.

Tom Curran into the attack

KK 45/1 (4 Overs)

Faheem Ashraf brought into the attack

KK 29/1 (3 Overs)

2.1: Full and tailing in toward middle stump. Sharjeel goes to drive but it comes into the body and beats the drive to knock back the middle and off stump.

Rumman continues

KK 12/0 (2 Overs)

Hasan Ali comes to bowl from the other end

KK 5/0 (1 Over)

Sharjeel Khan and Adam Rossington come out to open the innings for the Kings. Rumman Raees to bowl the first over.

KARACHI KINGS vs ISLAMABAD UNITED (1st INNINGS)

RAWALPINDI: Karachi Kings have won the toss and elected to bat first against home side Islamabad United in the 19th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

PLAYING XIs

Karachi Kings: Adam Rossington, Sharjeel Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Shoaib Malik, Irfan Khan Niazi, Matthew Wade, Imad Wasim(c) , Andrew Tye, Mohammad Amir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aamer Yamin.

Islamabad United: Colin Munro, Alex Hales, Rassie van der Dussen, Shadab Khan (c), Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Tom Curran, Mubasir Khan, Hassan Ali, Rumman Raees.

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches 19, Islamabad United 13, Karachi Kings 6

RAWALPINDI: Karachi Kings have won the toss and elected to bat first against home side Islamabad United in the 19th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

PLAYING XIs

Karachi Kings: Adam Rossington, Sharjeel Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Shoaib Malik, Irfan Khan Niazi, Matthew Wade, Imad Wasim(c) , Andrew Tye, Mohammad Amir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aamer Yamin.

Islamabad United: Colin Munro, Alex Hales, Rassie van der Dussen, Shadab Khan (c), Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Tom Curran, Mubasir Khan, Hassan Ali, Rumman Raees.

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches 19, Islamabad United 13, Karachi Kings 6

LAHORE: Right-arm pacer Hasan Ali came out in support of Quetta Gladiators’ captain Sarfaraz Ahmed briefly after the latter’s side succumbed to a sixth defeat in the ongoing eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The Gladiators, at the bottom of the points table, had a vital opportunity to seal a much-needed two points to make a case for their playoff qualification when they had Qalandars seven down for just 50 runs in 10 overs.

However, Sikandar Raza’s astounding knock of 71 runs recovered Lahore Qalandars from 50/7 to 148, which their bowlers comfortably defended and powered their side to a convincing 17-run victory.

Gladiators started off well in the run chase with their openers Will Smeed and Yasir Khan raising 50 runs within the powerplay before the former champions ran into a match-defining collapse.

Sarfaraz came out to bat with his side struggling at 64/4 in the 11th over but his inability to play big shots devoided him from pulling it for his side and the Gladiators fell 17 runs short despite their captain remaining unbeaten.

He could score 27 off 28 deliveries and hit only one boundary amid his struggling knock.

Following Gladiators’ flop show, right-arm pacer Hasan, who is representing Islamabad United, came out in support of his former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz and encouraged him to ‘stay strong’.

“Stay strong mera kaptan [Sarfaraz Ahmed],” tweeted Hasan.

Stay strong mera kaptan @SarfarazA_54

— Hassan Ali 🇵🇰 (@RealHa55an) March 2, 2023

 

It is pertinent to mention that the Gladiators are at the bottom in the PSL 8 standings with just two points in seven matches and need a miraculous turnaround to qualify for the playoff.

READ: Shots fired at Messi family store, threatening message left for star

LAHORE: Sikandar Raza played a fighting 71-run knock to recover Lahore Qalandars to a commendable total of 148 before bowlers powered the home side to a convincing 17-run victory over rock-bottom Quetta Gladiators in the 18th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

Set to chase a modest 149, the Gladiators fell 17 runs short of sealing a much-needed victory in the ongoing extravaganza and moved to the verge of an early exit from the extravaganza.

Earlier in the pursuit, the Gladiators’ openers Will Smeed and young Yasir Khan scripted a flying start to their side as the pair raised 50 runs within the power-play before Haris Rauf provided a much-needed breakthrough to the Qalandars as he dismissed the latter on 14.

Yasir’s dismissal triggered a match-defining collapse which consequently caused the Gladiators to slip to 80/5 in the 14th over.

Gladiators’ skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed then looked to anchor the run chase with a brief 25-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Odean Smith (11) but remained a touch slow in the process; causing the required run rate to climb sharply.

The Gladiators, in dire need of big hits, failed to charge against a tight bowling display from Qalandars in the death overs and eventually ended up 17 runs short.

Gladiators’ captain Sarfaraz remained not out with his cautious 27 off 28, while Will Smeed top-scored for the side with 32 off 25 balls, hitting six boundaries.

Haris led the bowling attack for the Qalandars with 3/22 followed by Rashid Khan with 2/14, while David Wiese made one scalp.

Put into bat first, the Qalandars managed to raise 147 before bundling out in the final over at the back of a scintillating 71-run knock by Raza.

Earlier, the home side got off to a poor start as the side lost seven wickets for just 50 runs in the first 10 overs.

With their side in heaps of trouble, Raza stitched a fighting seventh-wicket partnership with Rashid Khan and launched a counter-attack on the Gladiators’ bowlers as the pair added 69 runs in just 39 deliveries.

Rashid supported Raza brilliantly amid their glorious stand before Odean Smith got rid of him in the 16th over. He could score 21 off 20, hitting one boundary and a six.

Naseem Shah then dismissed Haris Rauf for a duck in the next over which resulted in the hosts slipping to 125/9.

Despite nine down, Raza carried on his baton charge on the Gladiators as he put on a vital 15-run partnership with Zaman Khan before the latter perished in the final over for a duck.

Raza remained unbeaten with his fighting knock and top-scored for Qalandars with 71 off just 34 deliveries, laced up with eight boundaries and three sixes.

Mohammad Nawaz and Naveen-ul-Haq led the Gladiators’ bowling attack with two wickets each, while Smith, Umaid Asif and Naseem struck out a batter each.