Truthful Warriors v Mighty Strikers Match 9 Result

Double header Thursday in the KCL saw Shakir’s Strikers take on Hamad Butt’s Warriors at the LGCC home venue for one of the two simultaneous fixtures. Running into this fixture under mixed form for both sides, the Warriors won the toss and elected to chase this time having folded pretty easily batting first in their previous fixture.

Gradually recovering from his serious injury, Ajaz has been remodelling his cricket career as a top order Batsman. A flying start mainly by Ajaz put extreme pressure on Captain Hammad, as the Strikers raced to 40-0 in 3. Racing to 30* off 10 and threatening to put this game to one side in favour of the Strikers, the captain needed to do something to remove Ajaz. He called upon his most experienced campaigner and one of the most street-smart cricketers in the league in the form of Zeeshan Naseer to do something different, and Zeeshan responded by giving his side the big breakthrough by removing Ajaz. The Warriors now regrouped and focused once again as the Warriors still possessed a lot of firepower in their batting yet to come.

Muzamil who was opening the innings today looked to hold one end for his side under the anticipation of Muhayuddin to once again express himself with the confidence he oozes, however Zeeshan Naseer was once again focused in delivering another crucial blow to the Strikers by removing Muhayuddin by the end of the 7th over, and the score at 70-2! Captain Hammad Butt sensed an opening and with his canny style of bowling locked in with Zeeshan. The Bait-ul-Noor duo of Hammad (4-14) and Zeeshan (4-15) both made massive in roads into the Striker’s line up, as the two of them picked up 8 wickets between themselves with the score now at 109-8! The Mighty Strikers were left reeling, having initially been in a very strong position 3 overs into the game.

The Strikers did manage to salvage some kind of defendable total with the final 3 batsmen adding 30 more runs to the total, as 142 isn’t the worst having been 108-8. However, the Warriors would take this score considering the way the Strikers had started this innings.

With some runs on the board, the Strikers struck early with the wickets of Ahmed Loun and Mohsin Besharat, as the opening bowlers Nauman and Muhayuddin both with a wicket a piece gave their captain the kind of start he would have liked to defend this total, as the Warriors were soon 21-2 in pursuit of 143. The Strikers then had to face the challenge of the in-form Bilal Muhammad and the commanding presence of Khurram Goraya at the crease. Both Bilal and Khurram were in the mood to showcase their talent with strokes all around the park and at a good pace, as both batters scored 50s and put on a wonderful 108 run partnership. Reaching close to the total, the Warriors had a few hiccups with wickets falling, but eventually cruised to the total in 15.1 overs, which would do wonders to their NRR if it does come down to it at some point!

The Warriors would be mighty pleased having dealt with such a strong outfit in the form of the Mighty Strikers. Considering their struggles from last season, the Warriors looked to have turned a page having recorded 3 wins out of 4, and now looking to do whatever that is necessary to reach a play off position! The Strikers have so far blown hot and cold, which isn’t befitting for a side that possesses quality players throughout like they do. They know they must be remain focused as a unit, and get their campaign on the right track very soon.