The second season of the Al Wakeel Cricket League kicked off in fine fashion with Karachi Gladiators batting first against Royal Group Falcons. The batting side however collapsed with their top order losing wickets too frequently to keep the scoreboard ticking. Opener Sami Afridi contributed a cameo of 20 runs but Hunain Usman was the true hero for his side with a fighting knock of 46 to try and pull his side back in the game. None of the other batsmen were able to make it past single digits and Karachi Gladiators were bowled out for a low 114 in 19.3 overs. Royal Group were brilliant with the ball with Sameer Ahmedani leading the attack, picking up 3 wickets in his spell. Adeel Abbasi, Fawwad Hussain and Hammad Sheikhani also took 2 wickets each to decimate the opposition.
In response, Royal Group Falcons also stumbled in their chase after losing both openers cheaply for just 2 runs. The team however recovered after that with with Adeel Abbasi and Taqi Azad scoring 32 and 23 runs. Gladiators bowlers fought back, trying hard to defend their target with Sami Afridi and Imran Idrees taking 3 wickets each but it was just too low a score. Eventually it was Hamza Tai's 17 not out that saw his side home in 18.5 overs.
Royal Group Falcons won by 2 wickets.
