Kings captain wants batsmen to raise their game

RAWALPINDI: Struggling Karachi Kings’ captain Shan Masood sounded low on the overall contribution of the top-order and has called on his main batsmen barring K Pollard to pick up their game ahead of the remaining matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9.

Karachi Kings’ action shifts to their home ground with the match against outsiders Lahore Qalandars today (Saturday). Karachi are in a must win scenario to qualify for the play-offs as they have just six points from eight matches. Both their remaining matches are of utmost importance as any hiccup from here on would mean curtains for them as far as PSL 9 is concerned.

Kings were seen going through the motion the other day against Islamabad United, suffering yet another defeat and that too without putting up any real fight. Only Pollard who has so far scored 235 off seven matches has shown some fight against opposition, achieving a healthy average of over 75 runs per innings. Shoaib Malik (205) from eight matches is the other notable scorer for Kings. All others including captain Shan struggled to make any decent contribution to the team’s fortunes.

The likes of Mohammad Nawaz who was picked by Kings in Platinum Category looked highly unimpressive. Shan Masood who is leading the Kings for the first time has a nightmare of time in the middle, scoring just 134 off eight innings he played with a poor average of just 16 per innings.

“I am part of that and here I am not defending myself. If we want to get positive results in the next two matches that are to be played in Karachi, our batsmen will have to pick their game to put up a decent total. Even against United today we were 20 runs short. That turned out to be the reason behind our defeat. There is a need to pick up the game. Our main batsmen are required to contribute more in order to set a decent target for the bowlers to defend.

“No team can be competitive unless and until it performs in all the departments. We have not made full use of our potential to look competitive. Our batting barring Pollard and Malik has not come up to the mark.”

Mir Hamza who picked up three wickets against United the other day hoped that Kings would come back strongly in the two remaining matches. “We have good chances of bouncing back and making it to the playoffs. All we want is to make the best use of available resources in matches to come.”

Mir Hamza was happy to contribute to his team’s cause but added that he would have been happier had his three wickets guided his team home. “We thought the wicket prepared for the match against United was full of runs but that was not the case as there was some moisture more because of cold weather.” The pacer hoped that things would go their way in matches to come. “We are hopeful of winning two remaining matches to earn a place in the playoffs.”

TODAY'S FIXTURE

Kings vs Qalandars

7:00 pm PST