The third weekend of the KCL 24 indoor promised to be a cracker with the Stars, Strikers, Conquerors and Royals all set to feature for their double headers.

Having narrowly missed out on a 2nd win last weekend, Salman Jajja’s Radiant Stars were once again successful in posting a commanding total of 133-4 in their 8 overs against the Royals, with Imran Ahmed inflicting the most damage with 32* runs off 15 balls. Although the Royals lost two wickets in the run chase, they struggled to find those big overs with the bat which could have propelled their score to match the required run rate. Eventually, they fell short by 30 runs, a comfortable win for the Radiant Stars.

The two powerhouse franchises (Conquerors and Strikers) engaged in 1-1 battle on the second pitch for the 4 PM start. The league’s number 1 draft pick Safwan Manzoor turned the heat on for the Conquerors batting first, with a brutal 51* off 16 balls, including 4 maximums. Besides Safwan, the remaining MC batsmen struggled to add much of value, stemming the score down to a good but not perfect score of 123-6. The form men Muhayuddin and Safeer quickly got to their retirements with scores of 25+, allowing the silent demolisher Ali Raza to smoke 30* off 8 and set up a clinical chase with 1 ball to spare. Fantastic win for the Strikers in their campaign

The Strikers this time batted first in the 5pm fixture against the Royals, who knew that they had to improve from the previous match. With 4 of their 8 players hitting 25+ scores striking at approximately 300, the Strikers piled 143-2 in their 8 overs, an ideal outing with the bat for them. Not taking anything for granted this time, captain Babar opened the batting with his own Ali Raza, both openers adding 75 runs off 34 balls to give their side an ideal chance. Besides the openers, the lower order struggled to contribute with only Abdul Qudees reaching double figures. A much better effort with the bat by the Royals chasing a huge total, but unfortunately falling 20 runs short and registered a second defeat for the day.

The Conquerors wanted to make amends having been on the side that fell short in the first hour against a jubilant Radiant Stars. Batting first, 4 of the top 5 from the MC raced to 25+ scores enabling them to reach the usually safe, winning zone with a score of 148-4. The Stars with a huge uphill task ahead of them struggled to find any serious momentum in the chase. Only Farukh and captain Salman could add scores of value with 25+ each. Muneeb also chipped in with some lusty blows, however the score of 148 proved 31 runs too much as the Stars could only manage 117-4 in response.

The Strikers and Challengers are leading the points table with a 75% win ratio of their 4 games by the end of week 3. Next weekend will provide the remaining 4 sides to have played their first half of the league, and add further clarification of who stands where at the halfway stage of the tournament.