MCL 9th Match Review: Azhar Mahmood leads Super Kings to a stunning victory

The Virgo Super Kings registered a 4 wicket victory over the Leo Lions in an exciting contest today. The Super Kings rode on the brilliance of Azhar Mahmood’s explosive innings to chase down the modest target of 148 runs set bu the Lions batting first.

The Lions had a very bad start after going into bat, losing West Indian legend Brian Lara and Hamish Marshall off the first two over of the match. The problems aggravated further after they lost Brendan Taylor as well just an over after the opening slump and found themselves reeling at 26/3 after 5 overs. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik was the trouble maker for the Lions. The former India spinner struck in his first over with the prized scalp of Lara and then added one more in the form of Taylor his subsequent over.

The Lions batsmen were finding it very difficult to get going and score runs at a decent run rate. Johan Botha (27 from 24 balls) and Herschelle Gibbs (12 from 18 balls) sluggishly accumulated runs. The scoreboard was moving at snail’s pace. Soon, things went from bad to worse after the duo was unpicked by the Super Kings spinners to make. Gibbs was the first one to go after he fell to leg-spinner Malinga Bandara. Botha followed him to the pavilion after Gareth Batty managed to get better of him.

However, The New Zealand pair of James Franklin (44* from 33 balls) and Scott Styris (21 from 10 balls) hit some valuable runs in the middle overs. Heath Streak (21 from 11 balls) also played a similar kind of innings towards the end of the innings. All these praiseworthy contributions by the lower middle order helped the Lions reach a decent 146/7 after 20 overs.

With a modest target of 147 to chase, the Super Kings started off bit casually but soon found themselves in trouble after they lost both their openers Mohammad Yousuf and Graeme Smith in short successions.

The Super batsmen showed a little lethargic approach to the chase and were not trying to get going in the match. However, Azhar Mahmood and James Foster played match winning innings to change the course of the match.

A drastic turnaround was brought to the match by Kyle Jarvis who claimed 2 wickets in the 18th over. Azhar Mahmood was the first to go off the first ball of the over. Mahmood went back to the pavilion for a match winning 48 from just 28 balls. Later, he shattered John Mooney’s timber off the last ball of the over to add spice to the contest.

The match was reduced to an exciting decisive over where 15 runs were required to win for the Super King. However, James Foster smacked two boundaries and a six to ensure that Super Kings go past the target and secure their second victory of the season. Fosters ended at a superb 23 runs in 11 balls.

Brief Scores:

Leo Lions: 146/7 in 20 overs (Franklin 44; Kartik 3/18)

Virgo Super Kings: 149/6 in 20 overs (Mahmood 48; Jarvis 2/21)

Man of the Match: Azhar Mahmood