Batsman\u2019s sixth successive fifty-plus score seals chase of 135
\nmonitoring desk
\nKARACHI
\nBabar Azam on Tuesday led Karachi Kings to their first Pakistan Super League victory after defeating Lahore Qalandars at the National Stadium.
\nKarachi Kings\u2019 coach Wasim Akram has dedicated the win to Dean Jones, saying that it\u2019s the late Jones\u2019 hard work that had brought this about.
\nAlthough Lahore-born Babar Azam\u2019s unbeaten 63 would likely steal the headlines, the victory was actually built on the hard work done by Karachi\u2019s unheralded, uncapped and unknown medium-pacers Umaid Asif, Waqas Maqsood and Arshad Iqbal.
\nThe trio laid the foundation over which Babar later capitalised and got his side the victory in a comfortable run chase.
\nUmaid, Waqas and Arshad combined to bowl 12 over for Karachi, gave away just 62 runs and picked up six wickets – two apiece.
\nNeither has ever played at the highest level but still proved more than a match for Lahore\u2019s studded, in-form batting line-up that threw away a solid start.
\nFrom 68-0, they managed a meek 134-7 as the openers\u2019 slow batting put pressure on the rest of the batters, who, in their attempt to up the scoring rate, kept losing wickets. The proverbial fireworks kept on getting postponed and in the end, never came.
\nIn their defence, Lahore batsmen can claim that the wicket was \u2018double-paced\u2019, which it was as the ball did not come on to the bat all innings – even for those known for their clean hitting.
\nIn response, Karachi always looked in control until a late flurry of wickets but Babar Azam\u2019s presence got them through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Batsman\u2019s sixth successive fifty-plus score seals chase of 135 monitoring desk KARACHI Babar Azam on Tuesday led Karachi Kings to their first Pakistan Super League victory after defeating Lahore Qalandars at the National Stadium. Karachi Kings\u2019 coach Wasim Akram has dedicated the win to Dean Jones, saying that it\u2019s the late Jones\u2019 hard work that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n