Lahore Qalandars are 104-4 after 10 overs against Islamabad United in pursuit of their 239-run target in their Pakistan Super League encounter at the National Stadium Karachi.Who is going to win this match?Islamabad UnitedLahore QalandarsVoteView Results
Lahore openers Fakhar Zaman and Anton Devcich continued where United had left off, throwing their bat at almost everything and also connecting almost every single time. Zaman was the more ruthless of the two as he plundered the young Muhammad Musa’s first over for 26 runs.
With conditions extremely conducive for batsmen, Devcich must be kicking when he mistimed a shot in the 5th over and ended up losing his wicket to Faheem Ashraf. After 5 overs, the Qalandars were 56-1 and the game seemed far from over.
However, the excellent Ashraf struck twice more in the 7th over, removing both Zaman (38 off 20) and Haris Sohail (naught) to put his team back in the driving seat.
Shadab Khan’s bamboozling of Riki Wessels could have put the game to bed but such were the condition that it didn’t. Newcomer David Wiese and Akhtar, who was the culpable party for dropping Delport in the first innings, carried Lahore’s hopes.
First innings
Luke Ronchi and Cameron Delport opened the innings for United, but their partnership lasted the shortest possible time as the precocious Shaheen Shah Afridi struck on the very first ball of the match. He had Ronchi caught in the slips.
Ronchi’s early departure was quite shocking as the pitch was super flat, signified by the trio of boundaries hit in the same over.
Delport was committed to taking full advantage of the track’s offering as he smacked four boundaries in the second over bowled by Rahat Ali.
With pacers going for runs, Fakhar Zaman introduced Sandeep Lamichhane into the attack, and the move paid instant dividends. Philip Salt got greedy, took a needless chance and ended planting a catch at mid-on. Chawick Walton walked in to join Delport at the crease.
Full aware of the short boundaries, Delport was literally throwing his bat at everything and was getting rewarded too promptly. After 5 overs, United had amassed a massive 63 runs for the lass of two wickets.
Delport, who was dropped by Sohail Akhtar at the score of 26, completed his 50 in the 7th over off just 23 balls, flicking one past the short fine leg for four. The introduction of Agha Salman and David Wiese curtailed the flow of runs somewhat but United still brought up their 100 in the 10th over, at the end of which they were 103-2 and cruising.
Walton had played under Delport’s shadow for much of their partnership but the Windies batter took centrestage in the 14th over, smacking back-to-back sixes off of Wiese’s deliveries.
Wiese had the last laugh, however, as he cleaned up Walton in the same over, which ended the 118-run third-wicket partnership. With five overs left, United were 158-3, with Delport on 91 and closing on his century.
The African completed his maiden and PSL’s fastest-ever ton in the 16 over as runs started to flow at the same feverish rate as they did in the first five overs.
In the last five overs, Asif Ali (55 off 21) became the tormentor-in-chief, hitting PSL’s joint-fastest half century laced with 6 sixes and 3 fours. In the end, United finished with the score of 238-3. Delport finished with an unbeaten 117 off 60 deliveries.
Captains’ comments
Fakhar: “It’s the first game, so we want to bowl first here. We’ve planned for Ronchi’s batting.”
Sami: “Very happy that cricket has come back to Pakistan.”
Lineups
Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Anton Devcich, Haris Sohail, Riki Wessels (wk), Sohail Akhtar, David Wiese, Agha Salman, Rahat Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sandeep Lamichhane, Haris Rauf
Islamabad United: Luke Ronchi, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Chadwick Walton, Asif Ali, Mohammad Sami, Rumman Raees, Hussain Talat, Cameron Delport, Phil Salt, Muhammad Musa.
