Victorious Royals v Truthful Warriors

A top of the league table clash between two sides that have done well so far in the KCL. All eyes were glued to this lone, first fixture of the week with as all teams would get a sense of clarity of what chances they have and what they must do to qualify for the top 4. Hammad Butt, captain of the Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first against the unbeaten Royal’s skipper (Babar Ahmed).

Mohsaf Gondal so far has been in imperious form with the ball, picking up wickets and ensuring that the economy remains low. The Warrior’s openers looked to change this trend early on picking up 13 runs in Mohsaf’s first over and racing to 24-0 by the 2nd over. Mohsaf wasn’t going to be kept quiet for too long as he then struck two massive blows in the 3rd over (removing Bilal and Khurram), and then another killer blow in his 3rd by trapping Mohsin Besharat plumb in front of the stumps. With the score at 3-31 in the 5th over, the Warriors required a partnership and stability to steer them out of the trouble they found themselves in. Mohsaf bowled out with excellent figures once again of 3-22 in his 4 overs, which included 14 dot balls!

Whilst Zeeshan and Adnan stuck in at the crease and fought hard for their side, the momentum to get the scoreboard ticking was just not there, as Nazeef Ahmed (2-16) of the Royals delivered a fantastic spell of line and length bowling at military medium pace, hardly offering anything for the batsmen to free their arms. The Warriors were struggling and strangled at 67-5 by the 13th over, and it seemed like they could well be bowled out for a below par total. Captain Hammad Butt was joined at the crease by the vibrant Ahmad Loun as both players looked to counter and break the shackles. Loun eventually holed out at long on having added a valuable 15 off 12 balls but more importantly, some momentum due to his positive intent.

With the score at 91-6 by the 16th over, the Warriors needed a strong finish with not much left in the tank. To their benefit, Hammad had now seen enough of the wicket and conditions, and he decided to launch. Picking his bowlers and spots carefully, Hammad propelled the Warrior’s total to a very decent score of 141, which included a huge 49 runs in the last 18 balls of the innings! The captain finished as the top scorer with 45* off 33 balls, but the impact of these runs was the one that mattered more to his side. The momentum was now with the Warriors going into the second half of the game!

Requiring 7 an over, it seemed as if the Royals fancied chasing this total with a calculated approach instead of going from the get go. Naveed Hanif powered through with a slight niggle and produced 3 economical overs within the powerplay, staying consistent to his skill of hitting the length hard at height and extracting good bounce. The captain took a punt by calling upon his most experienced and foxy bowler Zeeshan Naseer to prize out a wicket, and so he did by removing the potentially dangerous Ali Raza in the 4th over, applying some pressure to the Royals who were slowly starting to fall behind the required rate.

A 3rd wicket partnership of 81 runs between Imran Noori and Waqas Ahmed was a mixed bag, as both players did keep the score board ticking, but there were still occasions were economical overs delivered by the Warriors had meant that the required run rate had crept to 10 by the 11th over, and some excellent hitters (Fazal, Babar, Mohsaf) were still waiting in the dug out. Imran fell for 41 (off 34 at a strike rate of 120) having fought valiantly and showing decent intent and the score at 101-2 in 15.1 overs, now requiring 41 runs in 29 balls with 8 wickets in hand for the Royals.

Big Fazl batting at 4 announced himself at the crease with a thumping six down the ground, sending shockwaves of concern within the Warrior’s camp as the remaining few runs would be a cake walk for him in this form. However, the biggest twist in this tail was to arrive in the very next over as Fazal was very unfortunate to be run out by some excellent footwork by Mohsin in his follow through leaving Fazal stranded outside of his crease at the non striker’s end! This may have been the turning point of the game as then Waqas who had spent the most time at the crease throughout the match (56 balls) was bowled out for 46 in the next over by Naveed (1-14, including 18 dot balls in his 4 overs). The threat still loomed with Babar at the crease who is more than capable of chasing down 26 runs in the last 2 overs. But the excellent closing out by Hammad, and make shift yet confident Bilal in the final two overs only enabled the Warriors to win this match with 11 runs to spare!

The Warriors have pulled off another famous victory defending a total from a bleak position, and this is now testimony to their strong mental fortitude, grit and will to fight to the very last ball under their leader Hammad Butt, who is inspiring this group of players to a play off spot having struggled so much last year! The Royals are still looking strong having suffered their only defeat in the season so far, they will learn from this experience going forward to ensure that they maximise their resources to their best instead of leaving it a bit too late.

With the Warriors reaching the 8 point mark and the Defenders above them with 9, it is clear that the Knights (2 points) and the Strikers (3 points) cannot overtake the Warriors at least with only 2 games left in hand. The Conquerors know now that they have no choice but to win all 3 of their remaining games and with a good run rate to at least match the points of the Warriors (thus eliminating the Strikers and Knights). The Radiant Stars (4 points) are also in the same kind of position as the Warriors, their game against the Warriors on Sunday will be a crucial one, as they can only finish on 8 points as well with only 2 games to spare.