ISLAMABAD:Mirpur Royals registered their maiden victory in Kashmir Premier League (KPL) 2021, courtesy to young Kashmiri pacer Salman Irshad and the batsmen, who came hard at Overseas Warriors in game six here at Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Sharjeel Khan and Shoaib Malik backed Royals’ chase as the team chased Warriors’ 146 runs target easily on the very first ball of second last over for the loss of five wickets.
Earlier, Overseas Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first against an experienced but out-of-form Mirpur Royals. But they failed to get off to a cracking start once again and kept on losing wicket regularly. Only Kamran Ghulam looked determined and threatening as the middle-order batsman scored 47 off 35, smashing three fours and two maximums. Azam Khan took his time and tried to save wicket as he managed just 32 runs off 40 balls.
Salman Irshad sent the three most important players – Kamran Ghulam, Imad Wasim, and Azam Khan back to the pavilion to help Royals restrict Warriors under 150.
Experienced and veteran openers of Mirpur Royals got off to a blistering start of 63 runs and scored with a run-rate of 10 until Sharjeel lost his wicket in the 7th over of the innings. Muhammad Akhlaq also got run out after scoring just a single run as fans saw Royals being 65/2 in 7.3 overs, looking towards the skipper for a rescue. Shoaib Malik joined Mukhtar Ahmed in the middle to produce another match-winning partnership of 63. When both Mukhtar and Malik lost their wickets in the 15th over to young Mohammad Musa, who later dismissed Khushdil Shah as well in his next over, Royals were still in the perfect position to win the game. A 13-run innings by Amad Butt proved enough to chase 146 despite so much drama and excitement in the end due to the exciting pacer Muhammad Musa who finished his spell with the figure of 4/27. Abbas Afridi also kept the batsmen in check as the medium-pacer conceded just 16 in his four overs. Royals won their first game in the tournament after losing to Rawalakot Hawks and Bagh Stallions while Overseas Warriors are still in search of two points after two games in KPL 2021.