Islamabad United has come under fire for being steamrolled by Lahore Qalandars in the 16th match of Pakistan Super League’s eighth edition.
Qalandars recorded their biggest win in terms of runs and the joint-second biggest in the history of the league to go on top of the points table.
Analysts during PSL Hangama heaped praise on Lahore Qalandars while they slammed the United for poor performance.
Muhammad Asif said Islamabad United looked like they were not on the battlefield ... they look like there were at a picnic place indeed.
Former national cricketer Saleem Malik said Islamabad United played very badly. He said though the United had a very good batting line, they played very badly as six of its batsmen could not reach double figures.
Qalandars got a very good start and the way Fakhar and Abdullah Shafiq played set a tone providing room for every teammate to play with a good strike rate to post a 200-run target, he viewed.
There was no effort from the United to chase such a big total, he said. Islamabad United lost five wickets for only 14 runs in one of the most epic collapses of this HBL PSL as they slipped from 54 for one to 68 for six and then lost three wickets at the score of 90.
David Wiese took three wickets for 17, and Sikandar and Rashid took two wickets each. Former national cricketer Muhammad Yusuf pointed out that United lost the match because of their poor batting. On the other hand, he added the Qalanadars' bowling proved their mettle and win the praise.
The United remained clueless against the quality of Qalandars' bowling attack. Colin Munro (18 off 14) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 17) put 41 runs and the latter opened the floodgates in the fourth over.