Shane Watson and Sharjeel Khan provided the fireworks as Islamabad United brushed aside Lahore Qalandars by eight wickets in the Pakistan Super league yesterday.
The Qalandars had posted a decent total of 166 thanks to an unbeaten 50 by Mohamed Rizwan following the failure of the top order to deliver after promising much.
But Islamabad made light work of the target thanks to Watson and Khan, who scored 79 apiece, to hand Qalandars their third defeat in four matches.
Watson slammed seven sixes and four boundaries in his 79 which came off just 47 balls before he lost his wicket with the score on 153 in the 14th over.
Next man Andre Russel departed quickly for two but the result was a mere formality as Khan saw Islamabad through. Khan’s unbeaten 79 came from 43 balls with five fours and seven sixes.
Only Dwayne Bravo acquitted himself well among the Lahore bowlers, the West Indies allrounder giving away just 28 runs in four overs. None of the other bowlers completed their quota as Qalandars captain Azhar Ali shuffled them around.
Qalandars’ top order made decent starts but failed to consolidate thanks to some good captaincy by Watson.
Ali made 27, Naved Yasin contributed 25, Bravo hit 26 and Qalandars’ hero of their last match Umar Akmal managed only 26 setting the stage for wicket-keeper Rizwan to showcase his talents.
His 50 off 27 balls with five fours and three sixes gave Lahore’s total a semblance of respectability but the Islamabad batting simply proved too good for them.
Shane Watson
