Published: Feb 11, 2017, 09:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 11, 2017, 09:28 PM (IST)
Brendon McCullum’s Lahore Qalandars bagged their first victory of PSL 2017 as Jason Roy shone with the bat and Grant Elliott with the ball. Playing against reigning champions Islamabad United, Qalandars first restricted the opponents within a gettable total of 158 and later on chased down the target with ease with 6 wickets and 1.4 overs in hand. With the victory, they earn their first points and will be at par with United, Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi in the tournament. Apart from Elliott and Roy, Sunil Narine, Umar Akmal and skipper McCullum also made significant contribution.
Winning the toss, Qalandars put United to bat. Dwayne Smith and Sam Billings provided the team with a solid start putting up 73 runs without any loss. It was the 10th over that turned the tables and brought Qalandars back into the game. Elliott removed both the openers in the same over which brought two new set of players in the middle. While Misbah-ul-Haq looked confident, wickets kept falling at the other end. Apart from him and the openers, all the other batsmen departed in single digit scores. Misbah remained unbeaten at 61 facing 36 deliveries and hit 3 fours and 5 big sixes during his knock. United put up 158 for 7 at the end of their innings. Full Updates: Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars, PSL 2017, Match 4
Elliott picked up 4 wickets and concede 23 runs in his quota of overs. The other two successful bowlers, Sohail Tanvir and Sunil Narine picked up a wicket each.
Chasing the target, Qalandars were under no pressure. McCullum got the team off to a fiery start, scoring 18 off 5 deliveries in the very first over. It was a record start in PSL as the over bore 21 runs. McCullum departed scoring 25 and was soon followed by Fakhar Zaman. Roy continued with Akmal and brought up 100 for the side. After Umar, it was Narine who played a significant knock of 26 off 12. He also hit the winning boundary. Roy remained unbeaten at 60 and was adjudged the Man of the Match for his efforts.
Brief scores:
Islamabad United 158 for 6 (Dwayne Smith 31, Sam Billings 37, Misbah-ul-Haq 61*; Grant Elliott 4 for 23) lost to Lahore Qalandars 160 for 4 (Jason Roy 60*, Brendon McCullum 25, Umar Akmal 35, Sunil Narine 26*; Mohammad Sami 1 for 25, Rumman Raees 1 for 19) by 6 wickets.
