All-round Lahore Qalandars beat Hyderabad Kingsmen in PSL opener

With a 69-run victory over Hyderabad Kingsmen, Lahore Qalandars got their PSL title defense off to a perfect start. The Qalandars gave an all-around performance with the bat and the ball in the tournament's opening game. They reached 199 thanks to a half-century from Fakhar Zaman and a number of supporting cameos, while a meek Kingsmen team was no match for them in the chase. As the Qalandars strengthened their formidable credentials, Marnus Labuschagne's team was bowled out for 130 by five different wicket-takers working together. After a pared down opening ceremony - in front of empty stands after the PSL decided against crowd involvement owing to a fuel conservation drive in the wake of the West Asia crisis - Shaheen Afridi opted to bat first. They quickly set about exposing Kingsmen's modest bowling attack as Fakhar and Mohammad Naeem flew out of the blocks. The opening pair put on 84 in 50 balls before left-arm orthodox spinner Hassan Khan finally struck to draw first blood. The Kingsmen pulled the Qalandars back in the middle overs as run scoring slowed over the next seven overs, with 47 runs scored and four wickets taken. Haseebullah Khan and Sikandar Raza, on the other hand, made a course correction by smashing 45 in 21 with a whirlwind death-overs team. Mohammad Ali, who would score 50 runs in three overs, was smashed to two sixes by Afridi, who came in with two balls to spare to cap the innings. That momentum was carried on by the Qalandars. As the Qalandars tried to cut the Kingsmen off from the powerplay, Afridi and Ubaid Shah scored on Usman Khan and Saim Ayub in the first four overs. When Raza and Haris Rauf scythed through the middle order, they met that threat, and captain Labuschagne's 26 was the team's highest score. In order to avoid being hammered on the net run-rate in the early stages of the tournament, Kingsmen switched to ensuring they reached three figures and then putting on as many runs as possible. However, as if to sum up their weak performance, they would score just two runs as Qalandars won big to show why they have won three of the last four PSL tournaments and may be among the favorites to win four in five.