LAHORE: Leading from the forefront, seasoned all-rounder Shadab Khan guided Islamabad United to a convincing eight-wicket win against defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the inaugural match of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.
In pursuit of a challenging target of 196 on a batting-friendly pitch under floodlights, United achieved victory in the 19th over when Shadab smashed a six off leg-spinner Salman Fayyaz.
Qalandars lamented numerous missed opportunities, including two dropped catches of Shadab, who made a bold decision to promote himself to the third position.
Shadab hammered an unbeaten 74 off 41 deliveries, comprising six boundaries and five sixes, while Salman Ali Agha contributed a brisk 64 not out off 31 balls (including seven fours and three sixes). The duo formed a match-defining partnership of 138 runs after Qalandars lost their openers Colin Munro (scoring five) and Alex Hales (36 off 28 balls) with the score at 62 in the eighth over.
The Man-of-the-Match, Shadab, had two strokes of luck, firstly in the 11th over when he was dropped on 22 by Qalandars’ skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi over deep extra cover off pacer Haris Rauf. The United skipper was granted another reprieve in the 14th over when Sahibzada Farhan grassed a challenging chance at fine leg off paceman David Wiese.
After reaching the 100-run mark in 10.5 overs, United maintained their momentum as all Qalandars’ bowlers, including skipper Shaheen (0-31), failed to make an impact.
In the 13th over, Qalandars missed another opportunity when Salman attempted a quick run, but fell short of reaching the crease. However, young Jahandad Khan failed to hit the stumps.
Flying Start
Earlier, after opting to bat first, aggressive half-centuries from Farhan and Rassie van der Dussen propelled Qalandars to a formidable total of 195 for five in their allotted overs.
Openers Farhan and Fakhar Zaman provided a flying start of 67 runs, with Farhan being the dominant scorer.
Shadab, who proved economical with figures of 1-24, dismissed Fakhar for a run-a-ball 13 in the seventh over when the left-hander was caught by Faheem Ashraf at long-on.
Farhan was the next to depart, caught behind off English paceman Tymal Mills in the 11th over. He mistimed a shot, offering an easy catch to wicket-keeper Azam Khan. The opener, who completed his half-century off 29 balls, scored 57 off 36 deliveries with eight fours and one six.
However, South African batsman Van der Dussen (71 not out off 41 balls) ensured Qalandars reached a formidable total as they reached 100 in the 12th over. He struck four fours and three sixes.
Abdullah Shafique (28 off 22), who added 73 runs alongside Van der Dussen for the third wicket, kept the scoreboard ticking when he smashed the second maximum of the match towards long-on in the 13th over by Mills.
Van der Dussen and Abdullah struck three sixes in the 15th over bowled by pacer Faheem, who conceded 22 runs in the over. United reached the 150-run mark in the 16th over.
Van der Dussen completed his half-century off 31 balls in the 17th over.
Wiese (14 off eight) was dismissed in the penultimate over bowled by speedster Naseem Shah (1-36), who otherwise struggled to find his rhythm and accuracy.
Scoreboard
LAHORE QALANDARS: Sahibzada Farhan c Azam b Mills 57 Fakhar Zaman c Faheem b Shadab 13 Rassie van der Dussen not out 71 Abdullah Shafique b Mills 28 David Wiese c Hales b Naseem 14 Shaheen Shah Afridi run out 0
EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-1, W-9) 12 TOTAL (for five wickets, 20 overs) 195 DID NOT BAT: Lorcan Tucker, Salman Fayyaz, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan FALL OF WICKETS: 1-67 (Fakhar), 2-89 (Farhan), 3-162 (Abdullah), 4-178 (Wiese), 5-195 (Shaheen) BOWLING: Naseem 4-0-36-1 (2w, 1nb), Ubaid 1-0-15-0, Faheem 3-0-40-0, Imad 4-0-33-0 (2w), Shadab 4-0-24-1 (1w), Mills 4-0-45-2
ISLAMABAD UNITED: Colin Munro lbw b Zaman 5 Alex Hales c&b Salman 36 Shadab Khan not out 74 Salman Ali Agha not out 64
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-8, NB-1, W-8) 21 TOTAL (for two wickets, 18.2 overs) 200 DID NOT BAT: Azam Khan, Haider Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah, Ubaid Shah, Tymal Mills FALL OF WICKETS: 1-41 (Munro), 2-62 (Hales) BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-31-0 (3w), Zaman 3-0-33-1 (2w), Jahandad 4-0-39-0 (2w, 1nb), Haris 3-0-38-0, Salman 2.2-0-23-1, Wiese 2-0-24-0 RESULT: Islamabad United won by eight wickets.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
