Monitoring Desk
LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars put on a dominant all-round performance to thrash Islamabad United by a massive 110-run margin to go on top of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) eight standings.
Set to chase a massive total, the United bundled out for a meagre 90 runs in the 14th over to hand defending champions a dominating 110-run victory that propelled them to the top in the PSL 8 points table.
Earlier in pursuit, United were off to a decent start as their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Colin Munro raised 41 runs for the first wicket before David Wiese dismissed the latter to hand a much-needed breakthrough to the Qalandars.
Munro could score 18 off 14 deliveries with the help of one boundary and a six.
The United then succumbed to another major setback at the brink of the power play when Gurbaz fell victim to Zaman Khan in the sixth over after a brief knock of a 17-ball 23 and top-scored for his side amid their dismal show with the bat.
Gurbaz’s dismissal triggered a match-defining collapse in United’s batting lineup and the visitors, consequently, were bundled out for a paltry 90 runs in the 14th over with Tom Curran offering brief resistance with his gritty 10-run knock.
Wiese led the Qalandars’ ferocious bowling attack with 3/17 while Sikandar Raza and Rashid Khan bagged two wickets each. Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan made one scalp each.
Opting to bat first, the Qalandars’ batters carried on their form as they post their second successive 200-plus total in the ongoing extravaganza. The home side finished at a massive 200/7 in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to significant contributions by the majority of their batting lineup.
Earlier, openers Fakhar Zaman and Tahir Baig scripted a solid start for their side as the duo raised a 58-run partnership before United skipper Shadab Khan dismissed the latter in his first over to get a much-needed breakthrough for his side.
Tahir could score 20 off 17 deliveries, laced up with two boundaries and a six.
Fakhar soon followed his opening partner in the next over as Tom Curran castled the in-form batter to bring United back in the hunt as Qalandars slipped to 62/2 in 7.2 overs. He scored 36 off 23 balls, hitting five boundaries and a six.
Following his dismissal, Abdullah Shafique put on a crucial partnership with Sam Billings and made sure that their side stay on track of amassing a big total as the pair added 71 runs in just 38 deliveries amid their stand before the former fell victim to Tom Curran.
The right-handed batter top-scored for the Qalandars with his sensational 24-ball 45, which featured four boundaries and two sixes.
The hosts then lost three quick wickets in the middle overs as Hussain Talat (6), Sam Billings (33) and David Wiese (12) fell in the space of just 11 deliveries.
The Qalandars, however, soon recovered from the brief collapse as Sikandar Raza and Rashid Khan launched a counterattack on the United bowlers with their brisk 40-run partnership which ended with the latter’s dismissal on the second-last delivery of the innings.
Rashid played a crucial cameo of 18 runs in just 12 balls with the help of two boundaries and a six, while Sikandar struck an unbeaten 10-ball 23, smashing as many boundaries. Curran led the bowling attack for the United with 3/34, while Shadab followed with 2/34. Hasan Ali and Abrar Ahmed struck out a batter each.
