In match seven of HBL PSL 2020, Islamabad United won the toss and decided to bowl first on the track of Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.
From Lahore’s side, Lynn was dismissed early, after which the out-of-form Fakhar, along with the veteran M. Hafeez, gave a steady start to Qalandars. However, Fakhar was bowled out by the United’s captain Shadab, having 33 runs in hand. Hafeez took the responsibility and single-handedly managed to smash the Islamabad bowlers. The Professor remained not-out at 98, just 2 runs away from his first century in PSL 5. He hit 7 fours and 7 sixes in his knock. Hafeez was supported by a small yet impactful innings by David Wiese (19 off 9), who hit a few quick boundaries, leading to give the opposition an appreciable target of 183 runs in 20 overs.
While chasing down 183, Islamabad’s most essential opening pair, Ronchi and Munro were sent home in their first two overs. Dawid Malan could not stay on crease for long and was dimissed at 22 runs. Nonetheless, skipper Shadab made the game tough with his bat and played a captain’s innings scoring 51 runs off 29 balls. Colin Ingram further eased their chase by playing a crucial 30-run innings.
The game which was being considered as Lahore’s first victory turned into a heart-racing thriller up till the last ball and United’s batsmen attacked the Qalandars bowling unit with their best potential. Shaheen Afridi stood as the most economic bowler from Lahore’s side with an economy of 4.50, while Haris Rauf took 2 wickets, Hafeez, Wiese and Patel bagged 1 wicket each. Despite all their efforts, the game completely seemed to get out of Qalandars’ hands when M. Musa along with the emerging player Ahmad Safi Abdullah stood on a record 20-run last wicket partnership and won second PSL 2020 game for United, with 1 ball to spare. Hence, both the sides put all their efforts to win a close contest, but it was the Islamabad side who stood victorious at the end.
Shadab Khan recieved the well-deserved Player of the Match trophy for his match-saving fifty.
