Shaheen Afridi and David Warner found themselves face-to-face again this time as captains of their respective PSL teams. Warner is leading the Karachi Kings in this season, while Afridi is at the helm for Lahore Qalandars.
Following Kings win over Qalandard, Warner revealed about Afridi’s spin prediction going wrong. Ahead of the match between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars Before the match, Shaheen had strongly backed his decision to rely on spin bowling, expecting the pitch to assist spinners. Lahore Qalandars picked three spinners based on that belief. However, the pitch didn’t support spin at all something Warner quickly capitalized on.
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At the post-match presentation, Warner didn’t hold back. When asked if he would’ve done anything differently at the toss, Warner said confidently, “No.” He added, “Shaheen said it would spin, but it hasn’t turned even once in the last three games. I was a bit surprised by that, but he backed his team, and that’s fair.”
Karachi Kings thump Lahore Qalandars
Warner chose to go with a pace-heavy bowling attack, picking four fast bowlers Mir Hamza, Hasan Ali, Abbas Afridi, and Aamir Jamal along with just one spinner, Mohammad Nabi. His strategy paid off handsomely. Abbas Afridi starred with the ball, taking 4 wickets for 27 runs in just three overs. All of Karachi’s pacers chipped in with wickets, keeping Lahore to a below-par total of 160/8.
Chasing the target, Karachi Kings got the job done with four wickets remaining. Warner’s tactical decision proved to be a masterstroke, especially after Afridi’s prediction about spin turned out to be completely wrong.
With this win, Karachi Kings moved up to third place on the PSL 2025 points table with 10 points from 8 games. Lahore Qalandars, on the other hand, slipped to fourth place with 9 points from 9 matches, having lost four and had one game abandoned.