Monitoring Desk
RAWALPINDI: Zaman Khan’s four-wicket haul after Rassie van der Dussen’s gutsy half-century led Lahore Qalandars to their first win in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Put into bat first, the defending champions, who are yet to win a match in the ongoing tournament could manage a subpar total despite Rassie van der Dussen’s half-century.
The visitors had a disappointing start to their innings as they lost their openers Sahibzada Farhan (2) and Fakhar Zaman (10) inside the batting powerplay with just 16 runs on the board.
The Qalandars then sustained another blow to their batting charge when Shai Hope (6) perished in the sixth over, bringing them down to 30/3 in the seventh over.
Following the slump, Qalandars’ captain Shaheen Shah Afridi promoted himself in the batting order, coming out to bat at No.5.
He offered a brief counterattack with his quickfire cameo and put together a brisk 46-run partnership with van der Dussen before falling victim to his Islamabad United counterpart Shadab Khan in the 11th over.
Afridi smashed four sixes on his way to a 14-ball 30.
But Rassie van der Dussen stood his ground firm and put together brief partnerships with Sikandar Raza (4) and Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti (13) before finally perishing in the 18th over.
He remained the top-scorer for the Qalandars with 64 off 44 deliveries, featuring four boundaries and as many sixes.
Later, David Wiese bolstered Lahore Qalandars’ total with an unbeaten 24-run cameo. His 11-ball knock featured three boundaries.
Rumman Raees led the bowling attack for Islamabad United in their all-important PSL 9 fixture with 2/19, while Naseem Shah, Hunain Shah, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf and Shadab made one scalp each.
