Musa snatches 1-wkt victory for Islamabad

Lahore lose both home games

KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb 24, (AP): The No. 11 batsman Mohammad Musa snatched a one-wicket win for Islamabad United against Lahore Qalandars with one ball left, and defending champions Quetta Gladiators survived an early batting collapse to beat Karachi Kings by five wickets, in Pakistan Super League matches .

Shaheen Afridi (4-18) had all but won the game for Lahore at their home ground with Islamabad 1639, before Musa smashed two boundaries off the leftarm fast bowler to reduce the target to nine runs off the last over.

Musa (17 not out) smacked another leftarm fast bowler Usman Shinwari over long on for a six off the first ball in the last over before running the required three runs over the next four balls as Islamabad achieved the target of 183 with a ball and a wicket to spare.

Put into bat,experienced allrounder Mohammad Hafeez missed out on a deserved century but his unbeaten 98 off 57 balls propelled Lahore’s total to 182-6. Hafeez hit seven sixes and seven fours. Islamabad captain Shadab Khan (2-14) and Faheem Ashraf (242) did much of the damage.

Islamabad recovered in their chase through the first PSL half century for Shadab (52) after losing overseas batsmen Colin Munro (2) and Luke Ronchi (1) in the first two overs – bowled by Afridi and Hafeez.

Colin Ingram hit a 14-ball 30, with three sixes and one four in left-arm spinner Samit Patel’s over which kept

Musa

Islamabad in the hunt.

But Afridi returned and took three wickets in his last two overs before Musa’s brilliance with the bat denied Lahore victory.

Islamabad now have won two of their three matches and have four points, while Lahore lost both their home games – against Multan Sultans and Islamabad.

At Karachi, 21-year-old Azam Khan continued to inspire with his batting as Quetta also notched their second victory in the tournament

The 21-year-old Azam, son of former Pakistan captain Moin Khan who is now coach of Quetta, scored 46 off 30 balls and guided the team to 157-5 with an over to spare.

Quetta now have four points after playing three games in four days. They beat two-time champions Islamabad United in the opening game before losing to 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi on Saturday.

Sarfaraz remained unbeaten on 37 off 28 balls and featured in a matchwinning 85-run fourth wicket stand with Azam after Quetta’s overseas signings Shane Watson (27) of Australia and Jason Roy (17) of England were run out. Azam, who scored 59 in Quetta’s victory in the opening game against Islamabad, missed his second half century when he was run out in a mix-up with Sarfaraz in the 18th over, but by that time Quetta were well on their way to victory.

Earlier, Karachi struggled to put on partnerships and were restricted to 156-9 after captain Imad Wasim won the toss and elected to bat.