Lahore Qalandars daze Karachi Kings to win by 22 runs

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Qalandars' player development programme's find Haris Rauf took three wickets for 23 runs. Photo: PSL

DUBAI: Lahore Qalandars' bowling attack was too hot to handle for the Imad Wasim-led Karachi Kings in a low-scoring thriller at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. 

Qalandars defended 138 runs with a spectacular bowling display of in-house Players' Development Programme find Haris Rauf, Rahat Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi. 

Surprisingly Babar Azam, the number batsman in ICC T20I ranking, managed a meagre score of 28 off 38 balls with two boundaries at a strike rate 73.68. 

Rauf's inswinging yorker with an average pace of over 140km/h was the highlight of the day - Kings had no answer to it. The pace attack was complemented by the brilliance of Shaheen Shah Afridi, who took out Livingstone and  Ingram with his phenomenal line and length, and Rahat Ali who bowled brilliantly again to claim three wickets for 19 runs. 

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Karachi lost 7 wickets for 26 runs in post-rain play. 

Imad Wasim's cameo of 17 runs slightly tilted the game in Kings' favour but with his fall Aaqib Javaid and Fawad Rana had the last laugh. 

To sum it up, it was Shaam-e-Qalandar, with a teary Haris Rauf winning the Player of the Match.

Umer Khan takes out AB 

Fast bowler Muhammad Amir and spinners restricted Lahore Qalandars to 138 runs. 

But a dream became a reality for the 19-year-old spinner Umer Khan who gave the much-needed breakthrough to the Kings by taking the wickets of AB de Villiers and Sohail Akhtar. The vital wickets halted the rising momentum of Hafeez's team.  

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Coupled with impressive run-outs, the Kings dominated the field after a fiery start from opener Fakhar Zaman and Akhtar.