LAHORE: The warm summer night here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thur­sday was too much for Lah­ore Qalandars to be able to display energy in the field, but the home side was clinical otherwise.

Despite dropping catc­hes and leaking boundaries, Qalandars bowled and batted with authority in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) Eliminator to knock Karachi Kings out of the tournament with a six-wicket win.

Bowling first, Qalandars restricted Kings to 190-8 as Haris Rauf took three wickets before Abdullah Shafique’s (65 off 35, three fours and five sixes) half century helped them chase the target with eight balls to spare as they boo­ked their second Elimi­nator date with Islamabad United, the match to be played on Friday.

David Warner struck a fluent 75 off 52 balls — laced with eight fours and three sixes — as Kings batted first after winning the toss.

Qalandars failed to back up a strong bowling performance with competent fiel­ding as Haris led the attack with figures of 3-35 but was let down by repeated errors in the field.

Warner, who was dro­p­ped twice on 47 and 62, made Qalandars pay with a commanding display of stroke play. The left-hander took on the bowlers from the outset, flicking Shaheen Shah Afridi nonchalantly for six before jabbing Zaman Khan over the ropes with similar ease. Kings raced to 70-1 inside the powerplay, with Tim Seifert’s early dismissal having little effect on the tempo.

The momentum briefly shifted after the fielding restrictions were lifted. Shakib Al Hasan struck with his first over, removing James Vince, caught at backward square-leg.

Qalandars had another opportunity soon after when Haris dropped Warner at midwicket off Mohammad Naeem — a costly miss that allowed the Australian to bring up his fifty with a driven four through the off side.

Haris returned in the 11th over to remove Saad Baig, who fell to a full-length diving catch by Kusal Perera. But Warner was handed another life two overs later when Naeem failed to cling on to a top-edged pull at deep square-leg.

While Qalandars struggled in the field, Kings also endured a brief lull with no boundaries across 19 deliveries. Warner finally broke the shackles with two crisp fours off Shaheen in the 14th over. Irfan Khan provided a brief spark, launching a free hit from Zaman for six before perishing as Bhanuka Rajapaksa caught him at point.

Warner’s knock ended when he miscued a pull off Naeem to short fine-leg. The death overs saw a late flourish, with Mohammad Nabi and Khushdil Shah keeping the scoreboard moving. Haris returned to bowl a superb 18th over, dismantling Nabi’s stumps and forcing Abbas Afridi into a miscued shot.

Khushdil (27 off 14) was dropped in the 19th over by Naeem again and capitalised, smashing a six over long-off before hitting two boundaries in the final over to lift Kings to a strong total.

Qalandars’ response started with Fakhar walking down the crease to pacer Mir Hamza to clear mid-on for six before playing across the line for a boundary.

The flamboyant batter went on to launch off-spinner Nabi for a towering six and a straight boundary in the fourth over before Naeem at the other end skied one after smashing Hasan Ali for six to get caught by Vince at mid-on.

But Fakhar (47 off 28, five fours and three sixes) was unstoppable, swinging his arms powerfully to smack pacer Fawad Ali for two fours and a six as Qalandars posted 60-1 in the powerplay.

But it was all over for the veteran in the ninth over, with Fawad undoing him with a well-directed boun­cer before Qalandars reac­hed 89-2 at halfway stage.

They crossed the 100-run mark when Abdullah Shafque played an exquisite flick off Abbas Afridi’s pace for a boundary in the 11th over. Abdullah followed it up with a slap off Nabi over long-off for his second six.

He clobbered Hasan Ali for another huge hit before Kusal Perera lifted the pacer over deep fine leg as Qalandars cruised towards the target.

Abdullah brought up his fifty in style, effortlessly picking Abbas off his legs to clear deep fine-leg on the 29th ball of his knock before going on to pull the pacer for another maximum on the very next in the 15th over.

The batter’s stay at the crease, however, came to an end when he holed Hasan out to James Vince, who ran backwards at long-on to take a brilliant catch.

But the damage had been done for Kings, and Perera — who had anch­ored along with Abdullah for a 43-ball partnership for 83 runs — till that point and was now joined by Rajapaksa, ensured Qalan­dars crossed the finish line with ease.

SCOREBOARD

KARACHI KINGS:

David Warner c Zaman b Naeem 75

Tim Seifert c Asif b Shaheen 16

James Vince c Naeem b Shakib 4

Saad Baig c Perera b Haris 11

Irfan Khan c Rajapaksa b Zaman 18

Khushdil Shah not out 27

Mohammad Nabi b Haris 16

Abbas Afridi c Rajapaksa b Haris 2

Hasan Ali b Shaheen 0

Mir Hamza not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-4, W-12) 19

TOTAL (for eight wickets, 20 overs) 190

DID NOT BAT: Fawad Ali

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-43 (Seifert), 2-74 (Vince), 3-99 (Saad), 4-137 (Irfan), 5-140 (Warner), 6-163 (Nabi), 7-165 (Abbas), 8-173 (Hasan)

BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-47-2 (2w), Salman 4-0-37-0 (1nb, 1w), Zaman 4-0-49-1 (2w, 3nb), Shakib 1-0-4-1, Naeem 3-0-15-1 (1w), Haris 4-0-35-3 (2w)

LAHORE QALANDARS:

Fakhar Zaman c Nabi b Fawad Ali 47

Mohammad Naeem c Vince b Hasan 14

Abdullah Shafique c Vince b Hasan 65

Kusal Perera c sub (Aamer) b Hamza 30

Bhanuka Rajapaksa not out 23

Asif Ali not out 1

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, W-2) 11

TOTAL (for four wickets, 18.4 overs) 191

DID NOT BAT: Shakib Al Hasan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan, Salman Mirza

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-42 (Naeem), 2-75 (Fakhar), 3-158 (Abdullah), 4-184 (Perera)

BOWLING: Hamza 3.4-0-32-1, Hasan 4-0-37-2, Nabi 4-0-37-0 (1w), Fawad 3-0-27-1 (1w), Abbas 4-0-49-0

RESULT: Lahore Qalandars won by six wickets.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Abdullah Shafique

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2025