Hyderabad Kingsmen 123 for 5 (Irfan Khan 34*, Perera 32*, Labuschagne 32, Asif Afridi 2-20) beat Rawalpindiz 121 for 9 (Billings 26, Hunain 3-18, Mohammad Ali 3-21) by five wickets
Kingsmen have now jumped two places in the eight-team points table and now sit at number four. Rawalpindiz, meanwhile, remained glued to the bottom of the eight-team points table with six defeats in as many games and a negative net run rate of 1.821.
It was no straightforward win for Kingsmen who had to scrap their way on a surface that – despite being fresh – was slow and offered purchase to the spinners. Rawalpindiz had Kingsmen reeling at 69 for five at one stage. But an unbeaten partnership of 54 between Perera (32 not out off 24) and Irfan (34 not out off 29) sealed the win for them.
That there wasn’t any scoreboard pressure helped the pair. They had come together after the wicket of Labuschagne (32 off 21) and Glenn Maxwell’s golden duck in the space of three balls, but Kingsmen needed only 53 from 64 when Irfan walked in. It allowed them to milk the bowlers for singles and adjust to the pitch, which demanded time and patience from the batters. The two happily nudged the ball into the gaps until the 13th over and once settled, picked boundaries to hurry the proceedings.
The run chase began with a brilliant three-over spell from Asif Afridi inside the powerplay over the course of which he allowed only 10 runs and picked up the crucial wickets of Maaz Sadaqat and Saim Ayub, the latter’s dismissal coming in a wicket maiden. Mohammad Amir had Usman Khan caught at midwicket before the conclusion of the powerplay, which sparked wild celebrations and hopes of Rawalpindiz springing a surprise.
Labuschagne held his end until a beautiful delivery from young Saad Masood trapped him in front on the last ball of the ninth over. A ripper from Ben Sears demolished Maxwell’s stumps and wrapped half of Kingmen’s line-up.
It seems as if Kingsmen have understood the lengths and pace at which to bowl in Karachi better than any other side as their bowlers produced another incredible performance after how well they bowled against Islamabad United in the last match. Their wily variations and hard lengths kept Rawalpindiz’s scoring rate in check. They did not let their run rate go past five until the very end of the innings.
The fast bowlers continued to chip away as spinners kept a stranglehold on the runs with Hunain and Ali finishing with 3 for 18 and 3 for 21 from their four overs. Ayub and Hassan Khan completed their quota of four overs at stunning economy rates of 3.50 and 5.75.
Kingsmen will return to their hotel happy, with their chances of play-off qualification looking bright after today’s win. That two of their youngsters in Irfan, who had been struggling for runs, and Hunain, who was expensive in the last game and was named Player of the Match on Thursday, were the architects of the win would amplify their joy.
