Lahore Qalandars have reached 98 for the loss of four wickets after 15 overs in the opening match of the second leg of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) sixth edition at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Qalandars’ skipper Sohail Akhtar has been leading from the front, as he scored 40 runs — the highest individual score in the innings so far — before being dismissed by Fawad Ahmed.
Batsman Mohammad Hafeez scored 29, Fakhar Zaman and Muhammad Faizan hit 9 runs each.
Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, and Fawad Ahmed have taken a wicket each so far.
Islamabad’s innings
Islamabad United had set a 144-run target for Lahore Qalandars. None of United’s players, except Faheem Ashraf, 27, were able to score above 20 runs.
United put up a mediocre batting effort as their top order — Usman Khawaja, 18, Colin Munro, 11, Rohail Nazir, 8 — could not produce much, and neither could the middle order.
Colin Munro and Usman Khawaja opened for United, with Shaheen Shah Afridi opening the bowling for the Qalandars.
James Faulkner took three wickets, Haris Rauf and Ahmed Daniyal two each, and Shaheen Shah Afridi and Rashid Khan were able to pick a wicket each.
The Qalandars were able to keep their blowing and fielding tight as they were able to restrict United to a struggling 143.
This is the first match of PSL 2021 where both the teams are going head-to-head.
Islamabad United had won 3 out of 4 matches and was above Lahore Qalandars on the basis of Net Run Rate (NRR) on the points table before the tournament was halted.
United have the upper hand as they have won 8 out of 10 PSL matches against Lahore Qalandars — who have won just two.
