Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars: Which side has won more PSL matches head to head?

KARACHI: Being touted as the biggest game of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) so far, the Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars will face off on Tuesday against each other. Before we get to the high-octane clash, a question comes to mind — which side has won more matches against the other in their previous PSL encounters?

The match will arguably be the biggest in PSL history as two of the biggest cities with the biggest of fanbases and cricketing as well as cultural rivalries face off for a chance to lift the trophy for the first time.

The match warrants a thorough look at how the two sides have fared when facing each other.

Considering Lahore's troubles over the years, it's not surprising at all that they have a losing record against Karachi.

Of their 10 meetings, Karachi have won six and Lahore four, with one of their four victories coming by the way of one-over eliminator so if that is taken out, it basically becomes 6-3 in Karachi's favour.

The matchup between the two sides this year, though, has been a lot close, with both the teams winning a match each.

Their first clash came on March 8 in Lahore when Alex Hayles (unbeaten 80) and Chadwick Walton (45 off 20) got Karachi a mammoth 187-run total.

In response, Lahore lost Fakhar Zaman in the 1st over and were batting at ODI pace in a T20 match when Hafeez departed in the 9th over with 50 runs on the board. Then Ben Dunk took over, with captain Sohail Akhtar playing his able depute. The rest, as they say, is history. Dunk blew his bubble gum and hit sixes at will to get the job done with almost an over to spare.

In the reverse fixture in Karachi days later, Lahore batted first, got off to a flying start before suffering a familiar middle-order collapse that saw them set a 151-run target for Karachi.

The Kings tracked down the target without losing even a single wicket and almost three overs to spare. Sharjeel Khan scored 74 and Babar Azam 69, and even though the latter's strike rate so so much better, Sharjeel was given the man-of-the-match award - probably for all the sixes he hit.