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Cricket: Shoaib Malik shows he still has lots to offer

Sharjah - A leaner Malik has been enjoying a second coming, so to speak, and on Sunday night, the 35-year-old produced another one of those memorable ones

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) main remit has been to unearth new talent which would later go on and serve the country.
But the League has also been a stage for some of the old warhorses to show the world that they still have it in them.
England's Kevin Pietersen did it the other night and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara too. And Pakistan's very own elder statesmen Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik were in the act as well, with performances which were another one for the book.
A leaner and lithe Malik has been enjoying a second coming, so to speak, and on Sunday night, the 35-year-old produced another one of those memorable ones.
He scored a 27-ball 51 to help shape the Karachi Kings innings and later took the vital wicket of danger man Eoin Morgan as the Peshawar Zalmi went about the chase.
That not just earned the Karachi Kings a second successive win, but it also rewarded Malik with the Man of the Match award.
And Malik was pleased to have played a part.
"I think we were 110-something, but obviously against a good batting side, you need 170-plus on a good pitch," said Malik.
"I knew I had to take my chances and I was successful. I am a batsman who needs a bit of time. Once I started seeing the ball well, I started hitting it well as well. Sangakkara and Babar set the tone well," he added.
Meanwhile, Karachi Kings captain Kumar Sangakkara said that asking the young leg spinner Usama Mir to bowl the last over, was the only option left and the Sri Lankan felt he bowled exceedingly well.
"Bringing the leg spinner was the only choice I had, but the young leg spinner was outstanding. He got turn and bounce," said Sangakkara.
About the team's batting, he said: "It was a good start but we probably slowed down too much between the seventh and 10th overs with me and Babar (Azam) getting out. But it was an outstanding innings by Shoaib Malik," he said.
And even though Chris Gayle is yet to fire, Sangakkara said that the two important catches of opposite captain Darren Sammy and Shahid Afridi, that the West Indian took, turned it around for the Karachi Kings.
"I think Chris took one on his chest and one at short fine leg which proved crucial for us. All around, it was an outstanding effort. A guy like Gayle is always a knock away. We are trying to give him the best possible chance to score and hopefully he will fire for us," Sangakkara said.
Meanwhile, Sammy felt that the Karachi Kings probably scored 10 runs more.
"Peshawar Zalmi keep on providing exciting matches, but we keep losing matches. I think they scored 10 runs too many from the position we got them in. It was an exciting match but disappointed to end up on the losing side," said Sammy.
"You always try to take the game as deep as possible. We had the belief till the last over that it could be done. T20 is all about momentum and their leg spinner did it for them. For us it's about more guys putting their hands up. We're not out of the competition, we have two games coming up and well regroup and try to come back stronger," he added.
james@khaleejtimes.com