RAWALPINDI: Lahore Qalandars, the defending champions, broke their six-match losing streak with a 17-run victory over Islamabad United in the 23rd match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine, played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Chasing the 163-run target, Islamabad United had a poor start, losing six wickets for just 38 runs. Skipper Shaheen Afridi struck early, removing Alex Hales for a duck in the very first over. Agha Salman followed suit, managing only 4 runs before falling to Zaman Khan’s bowling.
The batting side encountered further setbacks as Shadab (7) was clean-bowled by a well-executed yorker. The troubles continued with the swift dismissals of Colin Munro (15), Imad Wasim (7), and Jordan Cox (7), leaving the team in a precarious position with several key players back in the pavilion.
Azam Khan and Faheem Ashraf attempted to mount a comeback with a 35-run partnership. Despite Azam’s dismissal for 29, Naseem Shah played a crucial innings to keep the two-time champions in the hunt.
Naseem scored a quickfire 27 off 16 balls before being bowled by Shaheen Afridi, who reached the milestone of 100 PSL wickets.
Faheem Ashraf kept the Lahore Qalandars under pressure until Zaman Khan dismissed Rumman Raees to end Islamabad United’s innings for 145 runs in 18.5 overs. Faheem remained unbeaten on 41 off 31 balls, comprising five boundaries.
Zaman Khan from Lahore Qalandars got four wickets.
Lahore Qalandars Innings
Winning the toss, Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan elected to field first. Lahore Qalandars’ innings saw excellent contributions from Van Dar Duson, who scored 64 runs, and skipper Shaheen Afridi, who added 30 runs. Additional runs were contributed by Sahibzada Farhan (2), Fakhr Zaman (10), Shai Hope (6), Sikandar Raza (4), and Ahsan Hafeez (13). David Wise remained unbeaten with 24 runs as Lahore Qalandars posted a total of 162 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
For Islamabad United, Roman Raees claimed 2 wickets, while Naseem Shah, Hunain Shah, Imad Wasim, and Shadab Khan took one wicket each.
Lahore Qalandars Team
Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Shai Hope, Sikandar Raza, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi (c), Jahandad Khan, Zaman Khan, Tayyab Abbas
Islamabad United Team
Shadab Khan (c), Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Salman Ali Agha, Azam Khan (wk), Jordan Cox, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Hunain Shah, Naseem Shah, Rumman Raees
