Day two of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) saw wins for Lahore Qalanders and Islamabad United as they joined defending Karachi Kings in having a 100 per cent record.
Lahore got off to the best possible start in their clash against Peshawar Zalmi when they took a wicket in the first ball of the innings. Twenty-year-old Shaheen Afridi saw his delivery to Imam-ul-Haq met with a thick edge that was duly caught behind by wicket-keeper Ben Dunk.
Kamran Akmal went for a solitary five runs off 10 balls just three overs later but his innings, though low scoring, was enough to reinstate himself as the highest run scorer in PSL history. It looks as if it’ll be a ding-dong battle between both Akmal and Babar Azam of the Karachi Kings as to who has the most come the end of the tournament.
Peshawar struggled to find much rhythm but Ravi Bopara, once of Essex and England, hit a superb 50 off 44 balls on his Yellow Storm debut for as they looked to establish a foothold in the game but was caught at mid-off by Rashid Khan with an over to play.
Both Shoaib Malik and Sherfane Rutherford scored 26 runs each as Peshawar set the Qalandars a respectable target of 141 for victory.
Lahore’s batters got off to a strong start as the opening partnership of Fakhar Zaman and captain Sohail Akhtar combined to put 29 runs on the board. It was broken up though when Akhtar took an unnecessary risk in advancing down the wicket and mistiming his attempt to slog Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s delivery into cow corner, lofting the ball straight into the arms of Shoaib Malik at long-on.
Zaman himself was dismissed just 10 balls later with Malik making another superb catch and plucking the ball out of the sky following an edge off captain Wahab Riaz’s bowling.
It was perhaps Mohammad Hafeez who enjoyed the best spell at the crease for Qalandars hitting a well-earned, unbeaten 33 off 26 balls that included five boundaries. However, it was Afghan Rashid Khan, vice-captain of his national team who hit the winning runs when he hit a massive six over mid-wicket to claim a four-wicket victory for the Qalandars with nine balls remaining.
In the other game of the day, Islamabad United fought back to defeat the Multan Sultans with just an over remaining in a game that looked certain to go the other way at points.
United won the toss and elected to field first. And it proved the right decision as they took their first wicket with the 11th ball of the game when Chris Lynn edged and was caught behind by Welsh wicket-keeper Phil Salt to leave the Sultans on 4-1.
Englishman James Vince then took to the crease and was happy for Sultan’s captain and opener Mohammad Rizwan to engage in an expressive display that saw him score 71 runs off 53 balls, including two sixes.
Vince was in for just over five overs and scored 16 himself in this time but failed to ever properly get going and was eventually removed by fellow Brit Lewis Gregory. Vince saw his shot caught by the onrushing Faheem Ashraf to leave the Sultans on 52-2 with just under 13 overs remaining in their innings.
A further string of Sultans’ players struggled to make an impact with the bat – including Khushdil Shah, Sohaib Maqsood and Shahid Afridi who between them lasted 13 balls and added just 10 runs to the overall total.
Rizwan eventually fell with just eight balls remaining when Mohammad Wasim arrowed a yorker down the wicket that flew past him and crashed into off stump. The 28-year-old’s timing had been off for a little while and, although there wasn’t long left in the Sultans’ innings, it was still a big breakthrough for Islamabad. Come the end of 20 overs they had been set 151 runs for victory, the highest chase of the tournament so far.
United got off to a quick start but were halted in their tracks when Phil Salt picked out Vince who, fielding at cow corner, had an easy catch to leave Islamabad with a score of 30-1.
The next wicket fell with only 13 runs added as captain Shadab Khan only managed a disappointing five off six balls as he was caught on the boundary by Rilee Rossouw. Khan will be angered that he never really looked comfortable batting and will be hoping for more on a personal level as the tournament progresses.
Alex Hales, controversial in his home country, scored 29 off 20 balls and looked to be doing very well until he was caught out by a beautiful ball from 45-year-old Shahid Afridi (not to be confused with Peshawar’s Shaheen Afridi, aged 20). The ball pitched in the corridor of uncertainty and Hales, 32, had no clue whether to approach or play it off his back foot. The ball fizzed off the wicket and crashed into middle stump.
Asif Ali fell for nine off nine and his dismissal sparked an Islamabad collapse that looked to have put the game in the balance. Prior to Vince catching Ali at long-on, United were 73-3 with just over 10 overs gone. But six balls later, they’d lost another three wickets (including that of Ali). Afridi ran out Iftikhar Ahmed with a direct throw onto the stumps following a risky decision to run.
Then on the next ball Hussain Talat was caught by sub fielder Shan Masood when he failed to adequately deal with Khushdil Shah’s delivery. Just like that, Islamabad had gone from 73-3 to 74-6 in the space of just one over.
However, their day was saved by Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory who, in at No 7, hit 49 off 31 balls in a superb knock consisting of six fours and a solitary six to boot.
Gregory hit a spectacular 19 runs off five balls in the penultimate over – 18 runs that pulled Islamabad back from the jaws of defeat and on the cusp of a sensational victory, with United requiring one from the final over to win. That run came in the form of a wide when Sohaibullah misplaced his bowl.
Annoying for Gregory, as it denied him a deserved half century but a remarkable Islamabad turnaround was complete nonetheless.
