Tag: Ben Dunk

  • Lahore beat Karachi at home ground

    Lahore beat Karachi at home ground

    Lahore Qalandars beat Karachi Kings at the 11th match of Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) sixth edition on Sunday in National Stadium Karachi.

    Kings’ Sharjeel Khan (64 off 39 balls) and Mohammad Nabi (57 off 35 balls) were able to steer the side to the handsome total, after an early fall of wickets in powerplay.

    However, the Qalandars lost two early wickets but Fakhar Zaman took the charge to sail the boat of the side to victory with his unbeaten 83 runs off 54 balls. Ben Dunk also scored a much need half century, scoring 57 off 43 balls.

    Fakhar got dismissed by Daniel Christian which ended in a blessing in disguise and David Wiese blasted 31 runs off just 9 balls to guide his team to victory.

    Kings were pretty confident as a day before they achieved a remarkable win over Multan Sultans when they convincingly chased 198 with seven balls to spare and ended up with high confidence.

    The Qalandars’ performance, today, however, showed that in the battle of the nerves, they can easily whip any opponent, beating Kings by six wickets.

    In total, the two arch-rivals have played 12 matches, of which Karachi Kings bagged seven and Lahore Qalandars secured five, including this match.

    Meanwhile, Shaheen Shah Afridi secured man of the match award, taking three wickets by giving only 27 runs in four overs.

  • Bilal Abbas needs a fresh haircut, says Ben Dunk

    Bilal Abbas needs a fresh haircut, says Ben Dunk

    After being tagged on the posters of upcoming drama Dunk, Australian cricketer Ben Dunk has advised Bilal Abbas Khan to get a fresh haircut.

    Ben was tagged in a poster of drama serial Dunk by Zohaib Azhar, who is a host at Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    “Pakistan drama industry is also impressed by Ben Dunk,” wrote Zohaib in the caption.

    “I’ve been getting tagged in this a bit today, surely the actor needs a fresh haircut,” said the cricketer while sharing the poster of Bilal on his Instagram story.

    In response to Ben’s comment, Bilal joked: “I agree! I’m sure you can understand how difficult it is to maintain long hair.”

    “Love you man. Big fan,” he added.

    Dunk is an upcoming drama on ARY Digital, featuring Bilal and Sana Javed in lead roles. Other cast members include Yasra Rizvi, Shahood Alvi, Fahad Sheikh, Laila Wasti, Saifi Hassan, Salma Hassan, Kanwal Khan, Noman Ejaz, and Azekah Daniel.

    Bilal was last scene in Zee5’s Eik Jhoothi Love Story alongside Madiha Imam.

    While details about the drama are being kept tightly under wraps, Bilal in an interview had shared that the drama is a murder mystery. Dunk is being produced under the banner of Fahad Mustafa’s BigBang Entertainment.

  • Return of PSL: Which foreign cricketers are playing today?

    All eyes will be on Karachi’s National Stadium as HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 returns this afternoon.

    Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi are all set to battle for the glittering trophy and a prize of $500,000 as the cricketing tournament returns after an eight-month gap caused due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

    While all four squads have been rejigged with international and local stars joining the sides, the following foreign players will be satisfying cricketing fanatics until the final scheduled for Tuesday (Nov 17).

    Karachi Kings

    Alex Hales (England), Cameron Delport (South Africa), Chadwick Walton (West Indies), Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies) and Wayne Parnel (South Africa).

    Lahore Qalandars

    Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), David Wiese (South Africa), Samit Patel (England), Ben Dunk (Australia) and Dane Vilas (South Africa).

    Multan Sultans

    Adam Lyth (England), Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Joe Denly (England), Ravi Bopara (England) and Rilee Rossouw (South Africa).

    Peshawar Zalmi

    Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Hardus Viljoen (South Africa) and Saqib Mahmood (England).

    As for today’s clashes, Sultans will be facing Kings in the qualifier at 3 pm, whereas underdog Qalandars will be taking on former champions Zalmi in the first eliminator at 8 pm.

    The second eliminator is scheduled for Sunday evening.

  • PSL5: Sania Mirza lands in Karachi to cheer on Shoaib Malik

    PSL5: Sania Mirza lands in Karachi to cheer on Shoaib Malik

    The fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which was was suspended back in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, is all set to resume on November 14.

    International players for the remaining matches have started to arrive in the country and it has emerged that Shoaib Malik’s wife Sania Mirza has also arrived in the country to cheer on her husband and his team Peshawar Zalmi.

    Meanwhile, Lahore Qalandar’s Australian cricketer Ben Dunk has also arrived in Karachi.

    South African players Dan Velas and Cameron Delport, England’s Ravi Bopara , Alex Hales and West Indies’ Chadwick Walton have also reached Karachi.

    Liam Livingstone has been replaced by Saqib Mahmood in the Peshawar Zalmi squad. The replacement has been made after Livingstone became unavailable following his selection in the England’s ODI squad for the South Africa tour.

    Peshawar Zalmi’s West Indies duo Darren Sammy and Carlos Brathwaite are expected to join their respective squad today.

    Multan Sultans’ all-rounder Mahmudullah has been ruled out of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 playoffs after the all-rounder tested positive for COVID-19 in the pre-departure test that was conducted in Bangladesh.

    It should be noted that the cricketers arriving in Karachi will have to undergo coronavirus tests while the matches of the event will be played on November 14, 15 and 17.

    Due to the bad weather conditions, matches from Lahore are relocated to Rawalpindi and Karachi.

  • Pakistani citizenship sought for Qalandars’ Ben Dunk

    Pakistani citizenship sought for Qalandars’ Ben Dunk

    Commentator and former Pakistani cricketing star Ramiz Raja has sought honorary citizenship for Lahore Qalandars’ hard-hitting batsman Ben Dunk, who on Sunday trashed Karachi Kings with his match-winning 99 off 40 balls.

    In a YouTube video, Raja heaped praise upon Australia’s Dunk for his blistering innings against the Kings, suggesting that Pakistan team would benefit from Dunk’s talent if he became a Pakistani citizen.

    “Pakistan has long been missing a hard-hitter like Dunk,” he said.

    “I think the Pakistani government should give him [Dunk] honorary citizenship. We should make him play for Pakistan because my wish is to see a Pakistani batsmen do similar kind of power-hitting. We haven’t seen any Pakistani batsman do this kind of hitting except for Shadab Khan this season.”

    The report comes days after it was announced that West Indian star and captain of Peshawar Zalmi, Darren Sammy, will be given the highest civil award — Nishan-e-Pakistan — and honorary citizenship of the country by President Arif Alvi on March 23 for his “invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan”.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had taken to Twitter to announce it.

    On February 19, the team’s owner Javed Afridi had said the franchise had put in a request to the president to grant the Zalmi skipper honorary citizenship of Pakistan and requested PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani to pursue it personally so that the application is approved.

  • Lahore Qalandars’ Ben Dunk reveals the reason behind chewing gum on-field

    Lahore Qalandars’ Ben Dunk reveals the reason behind chewing gum on-field

    Lahore Qalandars’ batsman Ben Dunk has been a hero for his team as he scored 99 off 40 balls that helped Qalandars win at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday. The star player hit 12 sixes during the course of the match. Meanwhile, there has been a lot of speculation on why he chews gum on the field and the player has finally revealed the reason behind this.

    Speaking to the media after the match, Dunk said that he chewed gum on the pitch because it helped him focus on the task.

    “There is nothing special in the gum, I chew it to remain focused on the task,” he said.

    “Chewing gum is perhaps not a very good habit and I should not be doing it. It is being highlighted more in the videos. But I only do it to stay calm and focused on my task in the game,” Dunk added.

    On the fact that he missed out on a century for the second time in the tournament, Dunk responded, “But it does not matter, what matters is that the team won.”

    “I have to play the role in the batting lineup that is assigned to me by the team management. I always try and play according to the need of the team. The batting number does not matter, I always give my best.”

    Dunk also admired the fans in Lahore for cheering for the team, saying that the crowd during the game is the 12th player for the Qalandars. He asked fans to keep backing the team through their wins and losses.

  • VIDEO: ‘Hor koi saday laiq?’ asks Ben Dunk after match-winning 99 for Lahore

    With Lahore Qalandars star Ben Dunk racking up match-winning 99 runs off just 40 balls as the team played Karachi Kings at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday, the Australian cricketer has released a video message for fans, asking in Punjabi if there’s anything else he can do for them.

    “Hor koi saday laiq [anything else you want done]?” Dunk, who sent the ball flying a massive 12 times, including the final shot of the match, has said in the video message released after Qalandars chased down the 188-run target set by the Kings.

    Skipper Sohail Akhtar was the other big hitter who scored 68 off 46 deliveries.

    Both the Qalandars’ batsmen remained standing till the end of the innings, which came at 19.1 overs.

    The sole two wickets claimed by the Karachi Kings were those of Fakhar Zaman, bowled out by Mohammad Amir for a duck, and Mohammad Hafeez (16 runs off 24 balls) caught by Cameron Delport off Umer Khan’s delivery.

    The outcome has given both sides a decent chance to qualify for the top four. Karachi Kings are placed at the fourth spot with seven points while Lahore Qalandars are in the fifth place with six points.