Shadab shines as Islamabad down Lahore by one wicket
LAHORE: Shadab Khan’s all-round performance superseded Mohammad Hafeez’s 98 not out and Shaheen Afridi’s four for 18 as Islamabad United defeated Lahore Qalandars by one wicket in a thrilling Pakistan Super League match at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Sunday.
United chased down a target of 183 on the penultimate ball of the match to register their second win in as many days.
Qalandars had set up a mammoth 182 for six, after being asked to bat, at the back of Hafeez’s unbeaten 57-ball 98 in which the all-rounder struck seven fours and seven sixes.
He crafted a 67-run stand for the secondwicket with Fakhar Zaman (33 off 26) after Chris Lynn (11 off 8) was dismissed in the third over by Musa Khan, who later starred with the bat with a crucial 17 not out off 11 balls.
United’s Faheem Ashraf and Shadab took two wickets each for 42 and 14 runs.
United’s chase had gotten off to a shaky start as both of their openers – Luke Ronchi (one off four) and Colin Munro (two off four) – were dismissed in the first two overs.
Captain Shadab led the rearguard effort and crafted all-important partnership with Dawid Malan, who scored 22 runs from 22 balls, of 57 runs over the course of his 29-ball stay in which he smacked three fours and four sixes.
Colin Ingram provided further impetus with a quick-fire 14-ball 30, hitting three sixes and a four.
Pacer Shaheen, who had removed Ronchi in the first over, added three more scalps to his tally with the wickets of Asif Ali (18 off 11), Hussain Talat (five off seven) and Amad Butt (eight off four) and returned four off 18 in four overs.
With 20 runs remaining in the last three overs and one wicket in hand, Musa took United over the line hitting two fours and a six.
For his all-round performance, Shadab, the Islamabad United captain, was named man of the match.
The resumes on Wednesday when Multan Sultan takes on Peshawar Zalmi in Multan.
Qalandars’ woes didn’t end even after losing the nail-biter. The entire team has copped a fine for slow over-rate during their one-wicket defeat in the seventh match of the league.
Since it was their first offence, the entire team has been fined only ten per cent of their match fees as per Article 2.22 of the PSL code of conduct for players and player support personnel, which specifies details of the rules pertaining to minimum over-rate offences.
Qalandars were two overs short of their target from the allocated time after taking into account time allowances. If Qalandars are found guilty of another slow over-rate during the course of PSL V, then it will be considered as their second offence and each member of the playing eleven will be fined 20 per cent each of their match fees.