RAWALPINDI – Red-hot Qalandars slammed Islamabad United by a massive margin of 119 runs, getting a new record in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 8.
Afridi led squad etched their name in history books by being the only franchise to bag two games in a single season by more than 100 runs.
Powerhouse Fakhar Zaman went on a rampage as he registered a striking century before bowlers crushed Islamabad United to retain the first spot in the country’s leading Twenty20 league.
The visitors dominated with an all-round performance!#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #IUvLQ pic.twitter.com/rFddtSy5E3
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 9, 2023
Chasing mammoth 227, confident Islamabad United batters tumbled as a bowling attack under Afridi’s leadership bundled out all players on 107. Gurbaz was the first to return to the hut on 15, Alex Hales Munro could not advance as the duo made 29 collectively. The team was playing without Azam Khan, who suffered an injury.
Afghan seamer Rashid Khan led the Qalandars’ bowling attack with impressive figures of 21-4 while Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan got two scalps each. David Wiese got a single wicket.
Table toppers Qalandars dominated the first half, raking not so easy total of 226. Abdullah Shafique returned for a mere one in the first over but former navy man Fakhar Zaman batted impressively and played a knock of 115 off 57.
Fakhar and Kamran stitched a strong partnership while Mohammad Wasim Jr helped his side to get rid of the latter. Sam Billings then joined the action. Hasan Ali then got Fakhar Zaman. David Wiese could not have a day today as he returned on 6.
Rashid Khan then pushed his side with quick 15 runs in five balls, with one maximum, and two boundaries.
For United, Fazalhaq Farooqi remained under spotlight with 3/40 while Hasan Ali and Wasim Jr got one wicket each.
Earlier, Lahore Qalandars skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and opted to bat against Islamabad United during the 26th fixture of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
🚨 TOSS UPDATE 🚨@lahoreqalandars elect to bat.
Follow ball-by-ball updates: https://t.co/0kMj7mcL28#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #IUvLQ pic.twitter.com/juUXiJXMVK
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 9, 2023
Playing XI
Lahore Qalandars: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Hussain Talat, Haris Rauf, Abdullah Shafique, Sikandar Raza, Ahmad Daniyal, Dilbar Hussain, Kamran Ghulam, Mirza Tahir Baig, Shawaiz Irfan, Zaman Khan, Jalat Khan, Jordan Cox (wk), Ahsan Bhatti, Sam Billings (wk), Shane Dadswell.
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Sohaib Maqsood, Asif Ali, Rassie van der Dussen, Colin Munro, Hassan Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mubasir Khan, Tom Curran, Mohammad Waseem Jr, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azam Khan (wk), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Zafar Gohar, Rumman Raees, Zeeshan Zameer, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Gus Atkinson
