Twitter Reactions: Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam score fifties as Karachi Kings crush Qalandars by 10 wickets

The three-match winning streak of Lahore Qalandars has come crashing down and come to an end. Karachi Kings came up with a clinical performance to down the Lahore side. Karachi bowled really well first before their openers Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan didn’t get out to chase down 151 in 17.1 overs.

Combined bowling effort from Karachi Kings keep Lahore Qalandars to 150

After being put in to bat, Lahore Qalandars got off to a decent start. Skipper Sohail Akhtar was looking in great touch alongside Fakhar Zaman. However, soon after a wicketless powerplay, the Qalandars lost Zaman but Akhtar continued on his merry way. He stitched small partnerships with the middle order and notched up his second half-century of the season. However, when Akhtar fell for 68 in the 15th over (five balls to go), the score read 108/4.

But Lahore Qalandars couldn’t utilise the platform set as they stumbled to 150/5 despite Mohammad Hafeez’s 22-ball 35. Young pacers Umaid Asif and Arshad Iqbal picked up two wickets apiece while Chris Jordan bowled brilliantly at the death and returned with figures of 1/24 from his four overs.

Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan fifties lead Karachi Kings to a crushing win

Chasing a relatively under par total, Karachi Kings started in dominant style. The openers Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam looked solid and consistently found the boundary along with a very good rotation of strike. They scored 52 runs in the powerplay to be on track for the chase.

Even after the powerplay, Karachi Kings continued to put away bowlers and plunder runs. It was Azam who was leading the way at the top before Sharjeel caught up with him and eventually, went past him as well. None of the Lahore Qalandars bowlers looked like picking up a wicket or even threatened to take a wicket. Barring Dilbar Hussain and to an extent David Wiese, all the other bowlers leaked a lot of runs.

But Azam and Sharjeel got big scores as they guided Karachi Kings to a 10-wicket win and with 17 balls remaining. While the Pakistan skipper scored 69, Sharjeel made 74. This win now propels the Karachi Kings to the third spot on the points table with nine points. They have two more games to go and another win for them might as well seal a place in the playoffs. The fate of Lahore Qalandars now depends on other results provided they win their last league encounter against Multan Sultans.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: