In a nail-biting contest, Lahore Qalandars had the last laugh as they rallied to edge past Islamabad United by 8 runs. The young gun Zaman Khan held his nerves and defended 12 runs in the final over where he conceded just three runs against power-hitters Asif Ali and Azam Khan in the 12th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 at the National Stadium on Saturday (February 5).
Chasing a target of 175, Islamabad was cruising at one stage when Shadab Khan and Colin Munro together stitched a 100-run stand for the third wicket.
Shadab smashed 52 before he was skittled out by Rashid Khan while Munro clobbered 60 as both played a fiery knocks to put Islamabad in the driver's seat.
Shaheen Shah Afridi registered figures of 1/24 in his four overs of spell while Rashid Khan was brilliant again as he conceded just 21 runs in four overs and also snared the crucial wicket of Shadab.
However, Islamabad lost the set batters at the wrong time of the innings, with still needing 35 runs from 21 balls. Despite the momentum favouring the batting side, the Lahore bowlers came back strong and stemmed the run flow significantly in the last few overs. Big hitters Asif Ali and Azam Khan failed to find the gaps and the dot balls kept popping up as well. Azam’s 10 off 12 balls had created a big impact on the batting side and let the Lahore bowlers back into the game.
Zaman Khan bowled a splendid final over and ensured that the Lahore Qalandars win the game by eight runs in the end. With the win, Lahore have moved into the second position in the points table with three wins in four games while Islamabad United are currently lying at the third position.
Earlier, Islamabad won the toss and elected to bowl first against Qalandars. The openers Fakhar Zaman (38) and Abdullah Shafique (44) exploded at the start and accumulated 73 runs in the powerplay. Skipper Shadab Khan came into the attack and immediately picked up the openers which resulted in an array of wickets quickly.
The Lahore Qalandars lost their way completely at 98/5 in 12 overs. However, Harry Brook and David Wiese came to the rescue with a decent partnership in the middle and some good hits down the order from Rashid Khan and Shaheen Afridi ensured the Lahore posted 174/9. Waqas Mahmood and Shadab, both picked up four wickets each and Mabasir Khan bowled out an economical spell as well. Shadab Khan also took crucial wickets of Fakhar Zama, Mohammad Hafeez, and Phil Salt.
