PSL 2018: Twitter Reacts As Karachi Kings Start Campaign With Impressive Win Over Quetta Gladiators

Karachi Kings began their Pakistan Super League season with an impressive 19-run win over Quetta Gladiators.

Chasing 150,  the Gladiators were off to a disastrous start. They lost their openers – Shane Watson and Asad Shafiq- with just four runs on the board. 11 runs later; they suffered another huge setback when Kevin Pietersen was sent back by Tymal Mills.

Umar Amin and Rilee Rossouw then stopped the rot for a while. However, just when it seemed the two had their eyes set, Imad Wasim struck to remove Rossouw and end the 30-run stand. Karachi Kings then went on to take firm command of the proceedings by taking wickets at regular intervals. Gladiators were five wickets down with only 66 runs on the board. Four runs later, Gladiators’ hopes of pulling off a win took a big blow when  Mohammad Irfan sent back well-set Amin for 31 courtesy of a stunning effort from Shahid Afridi in the field.

Mohammad Nawaz and Hasan Khan then steadied the ship and kept the Gladiators’ slim hopes’ alive. The duo took the team’s score over 100 with Nawaz doing the bulk of the scoring. The equation was down to 43 runs off last four overs.

The last year’s finalists then suffered another big setback when Mohammad Amir sent back Nawaz for 30 to reduce them to 113 for 7. The Gladiators eventually fell short by runs 19 runs, scoring 130 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs.

Earlier in the day, vital contributions from top-order helped Karachi Kings to post a challenging 149 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs. Khurram Manzoor and Joe Denly gave the Kings a decent start by adding 34 runs. The stand was broken when Denly was run-out by Shane Watson for 14.

Two handy stands between Manzoor and Babar Azam and then the former and Colin Ingram took the innings forward. Ingram and Ravi Bopara then laid the foundation for a good total by adding 48 runs for the fourth wicket. However,  the King’s innings was derailed when Ingram and Bopara were dismissed inside four balls. The Karachi-based outfit could not recover from twin setbacks and lost wickets at regular intervals towards the end. They eventually managed to post 149 for 9. Ingram top-scored for the side, scoring 41 while Watson starred with the ball taking 3 for 22.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the game:

It took 3 seasons to finally defeat Quetta Gladiators.. Karachi Kings off to great start.. #KKvQG #HBLPSL3

— Sawera Pasha (@sawerapasha) February 23, 2018

https://twitter.com/tuk_tuk95/status/967053999491944450

https://twitter.com/JawadYousfani/status/967041907183538176

https://twitter.com/Nid_Naveed01/status/967033690013470720

Woooowwww what a catch by Lala.. indeed its the best catch of his entire career, that too at the age of 37. #PSL2018 #KKvQG #KarachiKings

— Ayaz Samoo (@AyazSamoo) February 23, 2018

@SAfridiOfficial @pslt20 #PSL2018
Moment of the day pic.twitter.com/9skhAx8Nox

— Umar Hassan (@umar_hassan81) February 23, 2018

https://twitter.com/osamacaprii/status/967039757854396416

When you are unsure of Jofra Archer's nationality so you just class him as Pakistani #PSL2018 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/vgmiukgII6

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) February 23, 2018