DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – West Indies star Sunil Narine shone with the ball but flopped with the bat, as his Lahore Qalanders went down by 27 runs to Karachi Kings, to suffer their third straight defeat of the Pakistan Super League here yesterday.
Electing to bat first, Kings gathered 159 for seven off their allotted 20 overs at Dubai International Stadium, with Ravi Bopara top-scoring with an unbeaten 50 from 34 balls and fellow Englishman Joe Denly and South African Colin Ingram both chipping in with 28.
Bopara, who struck a pair of fours and sixes, put on 50 for the fourth wicket with Ingram and a further 42 with Mohammed Irfan (16 not out) in an unbroken, eighth wicket partnership, to pull Kings around from danger at 36 for three in the sixth over.
Narine finished with excellent figures of two for 18 from four overs of off-spin to be one of three bowlers with two wickets each.
In reply, the left-handed Narine fell to the second ball of the innings for a first-ball ‘duck’, caught at the wicket essaying an ambitious heave at Pakistan left-arm seamer Usman Khan (3-26), as Qalanders collapsed to 132 all out in the 19th over. New Zealander Brendon McCullum struck 44 from 30 deliveries at the top of the order but was the only batsman to pass 20 as veteran leg-spinning all-rounder Shahid Afridi polished off the innings with three for 19.
