T10 League: Punjabi Legends' Malik masters Kerala Kings

Punjabi Legends captain Shoaib Malik plays a shot against the Kerala Kings in the T10 League at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday night.

The leaner and fitter, the second version, if you like, of Shoaib Malik continues to rumble on. And it has been legendary stuff thus far.
After moments in the wilderness and then becoming a pivotal part of Mickey Arthur's Pakistan, Malik seems to relishing his time under the sun, or night, so to speak.
Handed the captaincy after the first game against the Bengal Tigers, Malik fired an unbeaten 60 to shepherd the Punjabi Legends chase of 115.
The 35-year-old knock as well as opener Umar Akmal's 13-ball 31 saw the Punjabi Legends work off a comfortable eight-wicket win over the Kerala Kings in the T10 League at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
After opener Luke Ronchi fell for just two, Malik and Akmal paired up again to dent the opposition. And after Akmal's departure, Malik and West Indian Carlos Brathwaite saw them home with an over to spare.       
Malik brought his half-century with a boundary off Rayad Emrit, which was also the tournament's 100th boundary.
Having failed to defend 99 against the Bengal Tigers in the first fixture of the day, Malik, the Punjabi Legends skipper for the second outing, invited Kerala Kings to take first strike.
And although there a few blips along the way, the Kerala Kings managed to reach 114 for 4. Paul Stirling, who set the opening night ablaze with an unbeaten 66 from just 27 balls against the Bengal Tigers, in the first ever fixture of the format, was again in a rich vein of form.
The Irishman stroked an unbeaten 46 from 29 balls, which was peppered with four boundaries and three sixes.
Kings' captain Eoin Morgan had made a 13-ball 21 with the help of two boundaries and a six before falling to compatriot Ravi Bopara, caught by Luke Ronchi.
Southpaw Nicholas Pooran, who made his debut for the West Indies here in the UAE last year, clubbed a seven-ball unbeaten 20 with one boundary and two sixes as the Kerala Kings reached a decent total.
But that was not to be as Malik, who had made 30 in the first match, and his Punjabi Legends poured water on their hopes.
james@khaleejtimes.com