Qalandars bagged an easy win against Islamabad United in the fourth fixture of the Pakistan Super League being played at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on Saturday. They ended their inning in style as Sunil Narain hit the winning boundary on Rummas Raees's delivery as they chased down United's total of 158 runs.
During the Qalandar's exciting inning fifty came up for Jason Roy, who held the fort after Umer Akmal's untimely departure, in the 16th over. The same over also saw off No5 batsman Grant Elliot who contributed three runs to the total. Elliot tried to sweep on a flat delivery from Saeed Anwar that landed the ball in the hands of Asif Ali standing at backward square-leg.
0.5 SIX! Imran Khalid to Brendon McCullum
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Umer Akmal departed from the field after scoring 35 runs off 26 balls when a miss-timed pull shot on Shane Watson's delivery landed the ball straight to the fielder in deep mid-wicket.
The Lahore Qalandars raced to the 100-run mark in the 12th over as opener Jason Roy and No4 batsman Umer Akmal kept rotating the strike while hitting sensible boundaries whenever possible.
Fifty came up for the Lahore Qalandars in the sixth over for the loss of two wickets as they chased down Islamabad United's target.
11.3 SIX! Saeed Ajmal to Umar Akmal
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Qalandars' No3 batsman Fakhar Zaman's short, stuttering inning ended as United's Mohammad Sami's short delivery on middle and leg landed back in the bowler's hand when Zaman tried to lob it towards mid-wicket.
Earlier, opener Brendon McCullum left for the pavilion after scoring 25 quick runs off ten balls when he drove the ball straight to the fielder at deep square leg while trying to score his fifth boundary.
In the beginning of their inning, the Qalanders seemed off to a great start, as they scored 21 runs in the first over.
16.4 SIX! Shane Watson to Sunil Narine
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 11, 2017
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Islamabad United's inning
Islamabad United managed to put a decent 158-run total on the board as Misbah-ul-Haq (61*), the only one to score over fifty runs in the match, tried his best to return pressure to Lahore Qalandars as wickets kept falling on the other end at regular intervals.
Mohammad Sami was the last man to leave the pitch for the pavilion on the second last ball of the inning. Sohail Tanvir had bowled a slower ball to him and Sami lofted the ball right into Fakhar Zaman's hands.
An unfortunate misunderstanding led to Shadab Khan's dismissal as he was run out by the wicket-keeper after trying to take a run while Misbah refused to budge from the crease.
13.4 OUT! Grant Elliott to Brad Haddin
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Sunil Narine took Asif Ali out for just one run as he tried to slog the ball away straight to deep mid-wicket but failed as Elliot took a sitting catch.
Shane Watson had to leave for the pavilion as Grant Elliot took his fourth wicket of the day. Umar Akmal took the catch at long-on as Watson failed to drive it over the boundary. The hundred came up for United in the 15th over, shortly before Watson departed for the pavilion.
Brad Haddin was bowled out by Grant Elliot. Haddin had put up just nine runs before Elliot's full and straight ball was edged by Haddin straight into Yasir Shah's waiting hands.
Dwayne Smith followed Billings, he was taken out by Grant Elliot as he continued to bowl from stump to stump. He contributed 31 runs to the team score.
18.4 SIX! Mohammad Irfan to Misbah-ul-Haq
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Early in the match the batting side was quick to settle in as they put up 50 runs on the board in six quick overs. Both openers had built pressure on the Qalandar bowlers under pressure by hitting a couple of boundaries in each over as they rotated strike regularly.
Islamabad United made three changes to their squad after two of its players were suspended and sent packing and one was investigated amidst a match-fixing scandal that rocked the league on the second day of play.
@ShaneRWatson33 gets the Fazal Mahmood Cap for the Top Wicket-taker from @wasimakramlive for his colossal 4-44! ? pic.twitter.com/3svWUJrIle
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 11, 2017
United's side substituted Rumman Raees for Muhammad Irfan, Asif Ali for Sharjeel Khan, and Shadab Khan for Imad Butt.
Islamabad United's squad
Misbah ul Haq (capt)
Mohammad Sami
Saeed Ajmal
Asif Ali
Rumman Raees
Shane Watson
Brad Haddin
Sam Billings
Dwayne Smith
Imran Khalid
Shadab Khan
Lahore Qalandars' squad
Jason Roy
Brendon McCullum (capt)
Fakhar Zaman
Umar Akmal
Mohammad Rizwan
Grant Elliott
Sohail Tanvir
Sunil Narine
Bilawal Bhatti
Yasir Shah
Mohammad Irfan Jr