Left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir grabbed four wickets and Shane Watson struck a masterful 81 off 55 balls to lead Quetta Gladiators to a seven-wicket rout of title holders Islamabad United on day four of the HBL PSL in Dubai yesterday.
Tanvir’s 4-21 helped Quetta restrict the reigning champions to 157-8 before Watson’s undefeated knock steered them past the target with 10 balls to spare.
Former South African Wayne Parnell was a surprising top-scorer for Islamabad United with a 20-ball 41, inclusive of seven boundaries and a six while Asif Ali scored 36 and Hussain Talat made 30 in a total of 157-8.
The win — second in as many games — lifts Quetta to the top of the table with four points while defending champions are pushed back to fourth with just points after one win and two losses.
Quetta too were jolted early on, losing another Pakistan hopeful Ahmed Shehzad for two and Rilee Rossouw for ten but Watson ensured bowlers’ good work is not spoiled, first building the innings in company of Umar Akmal as the duo added 62 for the third wicket.
Umar, who made a winning 75 in Quetta’s first win over Peshawar Zalmi, struck two sixes and five boundaries in his 28-ball 44 with five boundaries and two sixes..When Umar was dismissed, caught and bowled by Cameroon Delport 64 were needed for victory.
Watson added a further 67 for the fourth wicket with Sarfraz Ahmed who made 15 not out, smashing the winning boundary off pacer Rumman Raees.
Islamabad, put into bat by Quetta, lost their top order in a jiffy, as Twenty20 expert Tanvir got rid of the danger man Luke Ronchi off the very first ball of the match. Ronchi drove straight into the hands of Shehzad at covers, before trudging back to the pavilion.
It became 0-2 with the promoted Shadab Khan’s wicket off the last delivery of the first over as Tanvir’s slower one was driven straight back into the bowler’s hands. Tanvir had a double wicket maiden to give Quetta an ideal start.
Tanvir now has 120 wickets in the power-plays of Twenty20 cricket, making him the highest wicket-taker in the shortest format’s first phase of six overs.
In Saturday’s late match, fiery paceman Haris Rauf took four wickets and Shaheen Shah Afridi grabbed two to change Lahore Qalandars’ fortunes as they downed Karachi Kings by 22 runs.
Rauf grabbed 4-23 while Shaheen returned with figures of 2-20 as Karachi Kings failed to chase down a modest 139-run target, primarily due to slow batting by Mohamed Rizwan (33-ball 34) and Babar Zman’s 28 which came off 38 deliveries.
Karachi were bundled out for 116 in 19.5 overs.
Openers Sohail Akhtar (39) and Fakhar Zaman (26) were the major contributors while Anton Devcich made 28 in the final overs as Lahore Qalandars scored 138-6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Karachi lost their in-form opener Liam Livingstone for 11 in the second over. Livingstone had made a polished 82 in their win over Multan Sultans on Friday. Shaheen had the Lancashire batsman bowled off a quicker one which Livingstone tried to pull for a boundary but missed it completely, only to see his stumps rattled.
Babar and promoted Rizwan added 47 for the second wicket but they consumed too many balls with Karachi’s total reading 55 after ten overs. Babar was bowled by Hardus Viljoen in the 12th over, hitting just two boundaries.
Rain briefly halted play with Karachi Kings 14 behind on Duckworth-Lewis par score. When play resumed, Shaheen bowled a superb 16th over conceding just two runs while dismissing Colin Ingram for 16.
Rauf was equally devastating at the other end, bowling Rizwan and then having Imad Wasim caught in the deep for a ten-ball 17 with a four and six. Rauf then dismissed Sohail Khan first ball but Mohamed Amir avoided a hat trick.
Man of the match Rauf said he bowled as per the advice of his coach.
“It was not important to be the man of the match, but what was important was to win the game for my team with good bowling and I am happy that I achieved that,” said Rauf, a product of Lahore’s development programme.
Lahore’s win is their second in seven games against Karachi in HBL PSL history, with four losses and a tied game.
Quetta captain and wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed (R) and bowler Tanvir Sohail celebrate the fall of an Islamabad wicket yesterday.
