Munro hits 87 as Islamabad demolish Lahore

LAHORE: Islamabad United rose to the second position when they thrashed Lahore Qalandars in their HBL PSL 2020 match at Gaddafi Stadium here on Wednesday.

Lahore Qalandars’ decision to field first backfired as Islamabad United’s openers Luke Ronchi and Colin Munro forged a brilliant 103-run partnership. Ronchi got out after scoring 48 off 31 balls, which included six fours and a six, but Munro remained on the crease till the end, scoring 87 off 59 balls, in which he struck eight fours and three sixes.

Captain Shadab Khan fell cheaply but Colin Ingram (29) and Asif Ali (20) provided good support to Munro, helping Islamabad post a formidable total of 198 for the loss of three wickets.

In reply, at no stage did it look likely that Lahore would put up a fight. Chris Lynn fell to Dale Steyn without scoring and Mohammad Hafeez fell to Akif Javed.

Salman Butt and Ben Dunk, who scored a match-winning 93 for Qalandars in the previous game, added 41 runs for the third wicket, but even that partnership failed to provide any hope as the asking rate kept climbing.

Butt departed after making 21 off 24 balls. Dunk was removed by Shadab when he had scored 25 off 15 balls, in which he struck four fours.

The next four batsmen failed to enter double figures. Tailender Usman Shinwari provided some entertainment to the spectators towards the end when he launched six sixes in his 14-ball 30.

Rumman Raees and Zafar Gohar took three wickets each, and Shadab got two.

Lahore Qalandars won toss

Islamabad United

L Ronchi c Patel b Hafeez 48

C Munro not out 87

*Shadab Khan c Patel b Faizan 7

CA Ingram c Dunk b Salman 29

Asif Ali not out 20

Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 3) 7

Total (3 wickets, 20 overs) 198

Did not bat: Rizwan Hussain, Hussain Talat, DW Steyn, Rumman Raees, Zafar Gohar, Akif Javed

Fall: 1-103, 2-113, 3-159

Bowling: Patel 2-0-26-0, Usman 4-0-31-0, Dilbar 2.1-0-14-0, Salman 4-0-43-1, Prasanna 2-0-28-0, Faizan 3.5-0-41-1, Hafeez 2-0-11-1

Lahore Qalandars

CA Lynn c Rumman Raees b Steyn 0

Salman Butt c Hussain b Zafar 21

Mohammad Hafeez c Hussain b Akif 10

BR Dunk c Ronchi b Shadab 25

SR Patel c Munro b Shadab 6

*Sohail Akhtar lbw b Zafar 8

Muhammad Faizan b Zafar 6

S Prasanna c Asif Ali b Rumman 8

Usman Shinwari c Shadab b Rumman 30

Salman Irshad b Rumman 1

Dilbar Hussain not out 8

Extras (w 4) 4

Total (all out, 18.5 overs) 127

Fall: 1-0, 2-16, 3-57, 4-59, 5-69, 6-75 7-87, 8-87, 9-89, 10-127

Bowling: Steyn 4-0-18-1, Rumman 3.5-0-29-3, Akif 3-0-28-1, Shadab 4-0-21-2, Zafar 4-0-31-3

Result: Islamabad United won by 71 runs

Man of the Match: Colin Munro (IU)

Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Shozab Raza (Pakistan). TV Umpire: Faisal Afridi (Pakistan)