Karachi Kings defeat Quetta Gladiators in PSL 6 opening match

KARACHI: Karachi Kings defeated Quetta Gladiators in the opening match of Pakistan Super League 2021 which was held at the  National Stadium. 

The Quetta Gladiators batted first and lost wickets at regular intervals, and only four of  their batsmen could put up double-digit numbers. The team could only make 121 runs due to some terrific seam bowling by the Kings, for whom the young Arshad Iqbal (3-16) starred.

In response, the Kings' run chase was never in trouble. Despite losing the early wicket of Sharjeel Khan, they immediately got back on their feet, reaching their target with more than six overs and seven wickets to spare.

Babar Azam, for once, wasn't the top performer for the Kings. Joe Clarke's scintillating 23-ball 46 was the highlight of the port city team's innings. Later, Mohammad Nabi chipped in with an unbeaten 30 off 14 to get his team home.

The contest between the Kings and Gladiators at Karachi's National Stadium started after the glittering opening ceremony and fireworks.

Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza were the on-field umpires for the today's opener, Rashid Riaz was the third umpire, Asif Yaqoob the fourth umpire and former Sri Lankan opener Roshan Mahanama delivered his services as the match referee.

Comprehensive security arrangements have been made for conducting the event. Only 7,500 fans will be able to witness the matches at NSK.

Squads:

Karachi Kings: Amir Yamin (gold); Arshad Iqbal (emerging); Babar Azam (platinum); Colin Ingram (platinum, traded from Islamabad United); Chadwick Walton (gold); Dan Christian (diamond); Danish Aziz (silver); Imad Wasim (diamond, successful relation request); Joe Clarke (silver); Mohammad Amir (platinum); Mohammad Nabi (diamond); Mohammad Ilyas (silver); Noor Ahmed (supplementary); Sharjeel Khan (gold), Qasim Akram (emerging); Waqas Maqsood (silver, brand ambassador); Zeeshan Malik (silver)

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Qais Ahmad, Anwar Ali, Saim Ayub, Tom Banton, Ben Cutting, Cameron Delport, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Hasnain, Arish Ali Khan, Azam Khan, Hassan Khan, Usman Khan, Zahid Mahmood, Abdul Nasir, Mohammad Nawaz, Faf du Plessis, Naseem Shah, Usman Khan Shinwari, Dale Steyn.