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Simmons, Shakib slam fifties in Karachi's maiden victory

by Manuj Sharma Friday 5 February 2016

Shakib Al Hasan scored a fifty as well as picked a wicket for the Karachi Kings against Lahore Qalandars.

©REUTERS / Action Images

Karachi Kings 131-3 (Simmons 62no) beat
Lahore Qalandars 125-8 (Amir 3-27) by seven wickets
Second match, Pakistan Super League, Dubai
Scorecard

Lendl Simmons and Shakib Al Hasan slammed fluent fifties as Karachi Kings made short work of the 126-run target set by Lahore Qalandars by chasing it down in just 15.5 overs to claim a seven wicket victory in the second game of the Pakistan Super League in Dubai.

Karachi won the toss and opted to bowl first. Chris Gayle (6) got going with a boundary over mid-on but holed out to long on in the next delivery off Shoaib Malik (1-16).

By the end of the powerplay, Lahore had lost the wicket of Azhar Ali (18) and managed to post 38 for two.

Karachi Kings continued to bowl right lines and the pressure resulted in Cameron Delport (17) being run out in the 10th over.

Between overs 11 and 15, Karachi Kings conceded just 32 runs and picked up the wicket of Sohaib Maqsood (22).

The final flourish which Lahore Qalandars anticipated never arrived as Mohammad Amir (3-27) picked up a hat-trick by dismissing Dwayne Bravo (14), Zohaib Khan (0) and Kevon Cooper (0) in the 19th over.

The Qalandars only managed to score 125 for eight in their quota of 20 overs.

Chasing a relatively smaller target, Karachi Kings lost Nauman Anwar (0) and James Vince (3) in the first two overs. Vince was unlucky as he was adjudged lbw despite replays indicating an inside edge.

Hasan (51) was given an early reprieve when Bravo (0-27) dropped a simple catch at mid-off.

The fourth over was where the Kings managed to make a statement as Lendl Simmons (62 not out) struck two boundaries while Hasan hit two sixes (51).

The duo batted positively to take the score to 57 for two in the powerplay. Simmons upped the ante further by scoring 15 runs in the eighth over and brought up his fifty in the 12th.

Hasan’s fifty came in 32 balls but was caught at long on in the 14th over off Delport (1-15). Thanks to the 109-run stand between Simmons and Hasan, Karachi needed just 13 runs from the last six overs.

Even though Karachi Kings lost Hasan, Malik (12 not out) struck two sixes and took his team to a seven-wicket victory with four overs left in the game.

Hasan was picked as the man of the match for his all-round effort.