Qalandars clinch thriller over United as PSL 6 resumes

Rashid Khan Wednesday hit consecutive boundaries in the final over to help Lahore Qalandars defeat Islamabad United by 5 wickets in a nail-biting contest in the opening match of the second leg of the Pakistan Super League's (PSL) sixth edition at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Rashid scored 15 from 5 balls, while Qalandars skipper Sohail Akhtar lead from the front, scoring 40 runs — the highest individual score in the innings — before being dismissed by Fawad Ahmed.

Mohammad Hafeez scored 29, Tim David 23, Ben Dunk 17, while Fakhar Zaman and Muhammad Faizan hit 9 runs each. Meanwhile, from Islamabad United, Hasan Ali took two wickets, whereas Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, and Fawad Ahmed were able to take one each.

Following the well-deserved victory, the Qalandars have now become table toppers with 8 points to their name.

Earlier, Lahore Qalandars bowlers Wednesday totally dominated Islamabad United as the latter were restricted to 143-9 in 20 overs.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Qalandars bowlers were right on the mark to back up their captain’s decision and did not let any of the United batsmen settle down.

New Zealand’s Collin Munro (11 runs off 7 balls) and Australia’s Usman Khawaja (18 runs off 17 balls) opened the innings for United. Munro was looking threatening as he flexed his muscled in the second over of the innings when he hit Australia’s James Faulkner for a four and a six but on the very next ball, Faulkner took the sweet revenge by disturbing the stumps of Munro.

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Rohail Nazir (8 runs off 5 balls) became the second wicket of Faulkner when he hit a wide delivery straight in the hands of Fakhar Zaman at cover point. United captain Shadab Khan (7 runs off 8 balls) also could not stay for long on the crease and became the third victim of Faulkner reducing the United to 42-3 in the sixth over.

Khawaja was also struggling and his struggle came to an end when he was caught by Faulkner on a Haris Rauf’s delivery.

Iftikhar Ahmed (12 runs off 16 balls), Hussain Talat (14 runs off 17 balls), Asif Ali (7 runs off 9 balls) and Hasan Ali (14 off 9) also failed to lift the United scoreboard.

Faheem Ashraf made a resilient 27 runs off 24 balls hitting two fours and a six before he became the victim of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Muhammad Waseem hit a boundary and a six and last man Fawad Ahmed also hit a boundary as United finished their innings 143-9.

Afghan spinner Rashid Khan’s figures were very impressive as he gave only nine runs in his four overs and took one wicket. Faulkner was the top wicket taker with 3-32. Haris Rauf took 2-28 in his four overs, Ahmed Daniyal 2-29 and Shaheen Afridi 1-37.

It may be a golden opportunity for Qalnadars to end their miserable run against United as they have lost five previous encounters to their opponents.