Truthful Warriors v Victorious Royals

The eliminator of the 2024 KCL was going to be a clash of high stakes, as this would determine the end of the road for one of the 4 top qualifiers in this year’s tournament. Hammad Butt of the Warrior’s has been doing well with the toss at Alexandra Park, and once again he opted to go with his favourable method of batting first having won the toss.

For the Warrior’s, the first difficult question that they had to answer was the one in which they do not allow Mohsaf Gondal to pick top order wickets within the powerplay; something that has been a key to the success of those sides that Mohsaf has been a part of. Whilst Zeeshan and Aamir tried to deal with this challenge in a watchful manner, Mohsaf eventually struck in his second over by removing the struggling Amir and applying early pressure on the Warriors with the score at 7-1 in 3 overs. Khurram at number 3 was looking to see the ball right into the middle of his bat early on, and the signs were there that Khurram is going to make amends this time and not repeat his mistake against the Royals as he did so in the group stages.

Khurram and Zeeshan waited patiently to put away deliveries that deserved to be punished, and once the ball lost its zing in the overcast conditions with the score at 32-1 in 6 overs, both Khurram and Zeeshan were now cutting loose. Zeeshan (20 off 24) fell to Mohsaf in his final over having done all the hard work, which then allowed Bilal to enter the crease in a new role of middle order batter. With a new partner at the crease, Goraya took charge of the game and was going hard at the Royal’s bowlers, especially the spinners who struggled to remain away from his arc! With 7 fours and 8 sixes (all massive clean hits), Goraya’s 90 off 44 balls had totally stunned and flattened the Royal’s side who seemed to have no answer! What particularly hurt them the most was the fact that they couldn’t make any inroads with Bilal (50 off 34) at the other end who played his hand superbly in a 118 run 3rd wicket partnership, by picking singles to bring the dangerous Khurram on strike and by also ensuring the quieter overs are not wasted with boundaries of his own. Khurram eventually fell 10 runs short of what would have been a great hundred and the score at 161-3, with Bilal following soon after at 175-4. Both Goraya and Bilal had done what the captain would have wanted from them and got their team into a very comfortable position in a must win game. With 2 overs to go, Mohsin Besharat who has been in good striking form helped himself to the depleted Royals by pushing his way through to a brilliant 23* off 8 balls (3 fours and a six) and maximised the final total to a daunting 199-4! This was not what the Royals would have expected to be chasing having initially had the Warriors at a chokehold of 32-1 in 6 overs.

The Royals had the firepower and personal to chase at 10 an over, they were not going to let their opportunity to win the KCL go so easily. Ali Raza gave his side the perfect start with a 16 run first over from the bowling of Naveed. However, what totally stunned the Royals was the inspired bowling of Usama Butt, whose melodious voice was transpiring into his bowling which left the Royals top order batters in complete daze! Waqas and Babar were removed in the 2nd over by Usama, and now a huge job was required by big Fazl to not only settle the ship but to take charge and produce something extraordinary for his side (something he is proven to be capable of). But when it’s your day, it’s your day! As Usama now delivered the biggest blow to the Royals by removing Fazl who was starting to find his rhythm with 2 boundaries before his dismissal, hats off to Aamir Saeed holding on to a skier at square leg! Imran Noori so far this season has only looked to punch his way out of a corner with his batting, but today even he couldn’t survive as Usama yorked Imran with a beauty and leaving the Royals in disarray with the score at 40-4!

Mohsin who had been excellent closing out the innings with the bat most likely closed out the chase for the Royals with the ball by removing Ali Raza (who was watching the carnage unfold from the other end) and the score now at 45-5. The Royals needed something extraordinary from the legendary Abid Ahmed, who found an aggressor in the form of Aqib, a 50 run partnership between Aqib and Abid put some doubt and pressure on Hammad Butt, captain of the Warriors as the partnership needed to be broken with the score at 103-5 in 12 overs. Mohsin delivered again with another death blow by removing Abid, and Zeeshan also got his man Aqib (43 off 34) having blocked out the young batter’s main scoring zones. Soon after, the remaining Royal’s batters fell prey to Naveed Hanif who targeted the stumps with his pace. The Warriors secured a thumping 71 run victory and a place in the second eliminator against Tahir Kang’s Challengers.

The end of the road for the Royals who have played some excellent cricket to be at this stage in the tournament. Babar’s first season as a leader was good for most parts with the results, however his side had started to lose their way in the latter part and have today fallen short. Hammad Butt’s Warriors and their dream redemption arc is still unfolding as we speak! After the horrible results of last season, Hammad has persevered hard by picking a group of cricketers that he wants to fight for him, and today they have produced almost the perfect performance for him by absolutely annihilating the opposition. The alarm bells are now ringing for the Challengers and the Defenders who watch on comfortably from their seats in the finals. The Warriors on song are indeed a formidable force!