South African Cameron Delport hammered the fastest century in the history of HBL PSL off just 49 balls and Faheem Ashraf grabbed six wickets to steer Islamabad United to the play-offs during their 49-run rout of Lahore Qalandars in Karachi on Saturday.
The return of HBL PSL to Karachi could not have been more rousing as Islamabad batsmen made the homecoming of the 2019 edition truly memorable.
Delport smashed an unbeaten 60-ball 117 to propel Islamabad to 238-3 -- highest total in all HBL PSL -- in 20 overs at a near-packed 32,000 capacity National Stadium.
Pacer Faheem Ashraf then chipped in with 6-19 -- the second best figures in all HBL PSL behind Karachi's Ravi Bopara (6-16 vs Lahore at Sharjah in 2016) -- as Lahore were restricted to 189-9 in 20 overs.
Besides the fastest hundred performance, there were a plethora of records that were broken. Islamabad's total is now the highest in all HBL PSL, ironically beating Lahore's own 204 they made against Multan Sultans at Sharjah this year.
Islamabad hit a total of 16 sixes — the most in an HBL PSL teams innings — as Asif also joined the party equaling Kamran Akmal's record of fastest to 50-run mark (17 balls), during his 21-ball 55 not out.
It was a hero-to-zero situation for Lahore fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi who conceded 62 runs in his four overs after dismissing Luke Ronchi off the first ball of the match.
The win -- Islamabad's fifth in ten games -- gave them third place while the defeat leaves Lahore in a difficult situation as they need to beat Multan Sultans by a big margin on Monday and hope Karachi Kings lose both their remaining round matches.
Lahore have six points from nine games while Karachi have eight points from eight. Quetta Gladiators are on top of the table with 14 points from nine matches. Peshawar Zalmi are second with 12 points in nine while Multan Sultans are out of play-off contention, with just four points in nine matches.
Lahore also tried to match Islamabad's run riot but apart from Sohail Akhtar (34-ball 75 with five sixes and eight fours) and Fakhar Zaman (20-ball 38 with three sixes and four boundaries) the innings fell apart.
Sohail added 54 for the fifth-wicket with David Wiese (12) but Faheem struck at regular intervals, with wickets of Zaman, Anton Devcich (18), Haris Sohail (nought), Sohail, Salman Agha (three) and Shaheen Afridi (one) to end Lahore's fight.
Delport said he was happy to contribute in the win.
"I struggled a bit in earlier matches so it was nice to score in the much needed win," said Delport. "I tried to play straight and it paid off. It was my first time in Karachi and the atmosphere was electrifying."
Islamabad skipper Mohammad Sami credited batsmen for the win.
"We lost Ronchi off the first ball but then Delport and Asif batted superbly and the total was great," said Sami. "Faheem bowled so well and got us the win."
Lahore captain Fakhar was disappointed in the loss.
"Credit to Islamabad batsmen who put up a challenging total and we used all our plans in bowling but nothing came off today," said Fakhar.
It was Delport all the way when Islamabad batted after being sent into bat.
Delport steadied the innings after the shock of Ronchi's dismissal as he added 32 for the second-wicket with Phil Salt (10) and a had a brilliant alliance of 128 with Chadwick Walton who made 30-ball 48 with four sixes and two boundaries. The real impetus came during Delport's fourth-wicket stand of 88 with Asif that came off just 37 balls.
Delport reached his fifty -- second this season -- off just 23 balls, lifting Islamabad to 100 in just 9.5 overs.
Delport reached his 100 with a six off Sandeep Lamichanne, fifth of the HBL PSL history. Peshawar's Kamran Akmal ( 2017 and 2018) has two hundreds while Islamabad's Sharjeel Khan (2016) and Karachi's Colin Ingram (2019) previously reached three figures.
Sharjeel and Ingram reached their hundreds off 50 balls.
Islamabad, who knocked 135 in the last ten overs, were super charged in the last five overs which yielded a whopping 80 runs. Lamichanne was hit for four sixes in the 16th over (three by Delport and one by Asif) while Shaheen's 16th over had one six and a boundary.
In all eight sixes and as many boundaries were hit in the last five overs, leaving a hapless Lahore attack into submission.
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Hussain Talat to Lamichhane, 1 run
Hussain Talat to Rahat Ali, 1 run
Hussain Talat to Rahat Ali, no run
Hussain Talat to Lamichhane, 1 run
Hussain Talat to Rahat Ali, 2 runs
Hussain Talat to Rahat Ali, no run
End of over 19: Lahore Qalanders: 184/9 (Target: 239)
Muhammad Musa to Lamichhane, OUT, Haris Rauf run out
Muhammad Musa to Haris Rauf, 1 run
Muhammad Musa to Haris Rauf, no run
Muhammad Musa to Lamichhane, Six runs
Muhammad Musa to Lamichhane, 1 run
Muhammad Musa to Lamichhane, no run
End of over 18: Lahore Qalanders: 176/8 (Target: 239)
Faheem Ashraf to Haris Rauf, no run
Faheem Ashraf to Haris Rauf, no run
Faheem Ashraf to Lamichhane, 1 run
Faheem Ashraf to Shaheen Afridi, OUT
Faheem Ashraf to Shaheen Afridi, no run
Faheem Ashraf to Sohail Akhtar, OUT
End of over 17: Lahore Qalanders: 174/6 (Target: 239)
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, one run
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, four runs
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, SIX runs
Rumman Raees to Shaheen Shah Afridi, 1 run
Rumman Raees to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, 1 wide
End of over 16: Lahore Qalanders: 162/6 (Target: 239)
Mohammad Sami to Shaheen Afridi, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to Shaheen Afridi, no run
Mohammad Sami to Shaheen Afridi, no run
Mohammad Sami to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to Sohail Akhtar, four runs
Mohammad Sami to Sohail Akhtar, SIX runs
End of over 15: Lahore Qalanders: 150/6 (Target: 239)
Faheem Ashraf to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Faheem Ashraf to Sohail Akhtar, FOUR runs
Faheem Ashraf to Agha Salman, OUT,
Faheem Ashraf to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Faheem Ashraf to Sohail Akhtar, no run
Faheem Ashraf to Agha Salman, 1 run
End of over 14: Lahore Qalanders: 143/5 (Target: 239)
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, no run
Shadab Khan to Agha Salman, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Agha Salman, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Agha Salman, no run
Shadab Khan to Agha Salman, no run
End of over 13: Lahore Qalanders: 140/5 (Target: 239)
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, no run
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, no run
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, SIX runs
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, 1 wide
Rumman Raees to Wiese, OUT
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Rumman Raees to Sohail Akhtar, FOUR runs
Rumman Raees to Wiese, (no ball) 1 run
End of over 12: Lahore Qalanders: 126/4 (Target: 239)
Shadab Khan to David Wiese, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, FOUR
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, no run
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, SIX
Shadab Khan to David Wiese, 1 run
End of over 11: Lahore Qalanders: 113/4 (Target: 239)
Mohammad Sami to David Wiese, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to David Wiese, no run
Mohammad Sami to David Wiese, 2 runs
Mohammad Sami to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to David Wiese, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to David Wiese, FOUR
End of over 10: Lahore Qalanders: 104/4 (Target: 239)
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, SIX
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, no run
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, FOUR
Shadab Khan to David Wiese, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Shadab Khan to David Wiese, 1 run
End of over 9: Lahore Qalanders: 91/4 (Target: 239)
Mohammad Musa to David Wiese, 1 run
Mohammad Musa to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Mohammad Musa to Sohail Akhtar, no run
Mohammad Musa to Sohail Akhtar, FOUR
Mohammad Musa to Sohail Akhtar, FOUR
Mohammad Musa to Sohail Akhtar, 2 runs
End of over 8: Lahore Qalanders: 79/4 (Target: 239)
Shadab Khan to David Wiese, no run
Shadab Khan to David Wiese, no run
Shadab Khan to Riki Wessels, OUT
Shadab Khan to Sohail Akhtar, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Riki Wessels, 1 run
Shadab Khan to Riki Wessels, 1 wide
Shadab Khan to Riki Wessels, SIX
End of over 7: Lahore Qalanders: 70/3 (Target: 239)
Faheem Ashraf to Haris Sohail, OUT
Faheem Ashraf to Haris Sohail, no run
Faheem Ashraf to Riki Wessels, 1 run
Faheem Ashraf to Riki Wessels, FOUR
Faheem Ashraf to Fakhar Zaman, OUT, Philip Salt takes the catch
Faheem Ashraf to Riki Wessels, 1 run
End of over 6: Lahore Qalanders: 64/1 (Target: 239)
Rumman Raees to Riki Wessels, no run
Rumman Raees to Riki Wessels, 1 leg bye, no ball
Rumman Raees to Riki Wessels, FOUR
Rumman Raees to Fakhar Zaman, 1 run
Rumman Raees to Fakhar Zaman, no run
Rumman Raees to Riki Wessels, 1 run
End of over 5: Lahore Qalanders: 56/1 (Target: 239)
Faheem Ashraf to Fakhar Zaman, no run
Faheem Ashraf to Fakhar Zaman, FOUR
Faheem Ashraf to Fakhar Zaman, no run
Faheem Ashraf to Riki Wessels, 1 run
Faheem Ashraf to Anton Devcich, OUT
Faheem Ashraf to Anton Devcich, no run
End of over 4: Lahore Qalanders: 51/0 (Target: 239)
Rumman Raees to Anton Devcich, 1 run
Rumman Raees to Anton Devcich, no run
Rumman Raees to Fakhar Zaman, 1 run
Rumman Raees to Anton Devcich, 1 run
Rumman Raees to Anton Devcich, no run
Rumman Raees to Anton Devcich, SIX
End of over 3: Lahore Qalanders: 42/0 (Target: 239)
Mohammad Sami to Anton Devich, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to Fakhar Zaman, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to Fakhar Zaman, no run
Mohammad Sami to Fakhar Zaman, no run
Mohammad Sami to Anton Devich, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to Anton Devich, FOUR
End of over 2: Lahore Qalanders: 35/0 (Target: 239)
Mohammad Musa to Fakhar Zaman, FOUR
Mohammad Musa to Fakhar Zaman, SIX
Mohammad Musa to Fakhar Zaman, no run
Mohammad Musa to Fakhar Zaman, SIX
Mohammad Musa to Fakhar Zaman, SIX
Mohammad Musa to Fakhar Zaman, FOUR
End of over 1: Lahore Qalanders: 9/0 (Target: 239)
Mohammad Sami to Anton Devcich, no run
Mohammad Sami to Anton Devcich, FOUR
Mohammad Sami to Anton Devcich, no run
Mohammad Sami to Fakhar Zaman, 1 run
Mohammad Sami to Fakhar Zaman, FOUR
Mohammad Sami to Fakhar Zaman, no run
Haris Rauf to Asif Ali, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Asif Ali, FOUR
Haris Rauf to Asif Ali, no run
Haris Rauf to Asif Ali, no run
Haris Rauf to Asif Ali, SIX
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, 1 run
End of over 19: Islamabad United: 226/3
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, no run
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, 1 run
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, SIX
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, SIX
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, FOUR
End of over 18: Islamabad United: 208/3
Haris Rauf to Asif Ali, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, FOUR
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, no run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, FOUR
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, no run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, 1 wide
End of over 17: Islamabad United: 197/3
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, 1 run
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, SIX
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, FOUR
Shaheen Afridi to Asif Ali, no run
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, 1 run
End of over 16: Islamabad United: 184/3
Sandeep Lamichhane to Asif Ali, SIX
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, SIX
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, SIX
Sandeep Lamichhane to Asif Ali, 1 run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Asif Ali, SIX
End of over 15: Islamabad United: 158/3
Rahat Ali to Asif Ali, 1 run
Rahat Ali to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Rahat Ali to Asif Ali, 1 run
Rahat Ali to Asif Ali, no run
Rahat Ali to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Rahat Ali to Cameron Delport, FOUR
End of over 14: Islamabad United: 150/3
David Wiese to Asif Ali, no run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, OUT
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, SIX
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, SIX
End of over 13: Islamabad United: 136/2
Haris Rauf to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Chadwick Walton, no run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, FOUR
Haris Rauf to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, 1 run
End of over 12: Islamabad United: 128/2
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 wide
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, FOUR
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, SIX
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 wide
End of over 11: Islamabad United: 112/2
Haris Rauf to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Chadwick Walton, FOUR
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Haris Rauf to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
End of over 10: Islamabad United: 103/2
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, no run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, SIX
Sandeep Lamichhane to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Chadwick Walton, no run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, FOUR
End of over 9: Islamabad United: 91/2
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, no run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
End of over 8: Islamabad United: 86/2
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, no run
Agha Salman to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Agha Salman to Chadwick Walton, no run
Agha Salman to Chadwick Walton, FOUR
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, 1 run
End of over 7: Islamabad United: 79/2
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, FOUR
David Wiese to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
David Wiese to Cameron Delport, 1 run
End of over 6: Islamabad United: 70/2
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, no run
Agha Salman to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, no run
Agha Salman to Cameron Delport, FOUR
End of over 5: Islamabad United: 63/2
Sandeep Lamichhane to Chadwick Walton, no run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, 1 leg bye
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, no run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Chadwick Walton, 1 run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Chadwick Walton, no run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Chadwick Walton, SIX
End of over 4: Islamabad United: 55/2
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, SIX
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, SIX
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, no run
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, no run
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, 2 runs, catch dropped
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, FOUR
End of over 3: Islamabad United: 37/2
Sandeep Lamichhane to Chadwick Walton, 4 leg byes
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, 1 run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, no run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Cameron Delport, no run
Sandeep Lamichhane to Philip Salt, OUT
Sandeep Lamichhane to Philip Salt, no run
End of over 2: Islamabad United: 32/1
Rahat Ali to Cameron Delport, FOUR
Rahat Ali to Cameron Delport, SIX
Rahat Ali to Cameron Delport, FOUR
Rahat Ali to Philip Salt, 1 run
Rahat Ali to Philip Salt, no run
Rahat Ali to Philip Salt, FOUR
End of over 1: Islamabad United: 13/1
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, FOUR
Shaheen Afridi to Cameron Delport, FOUR
Shaheen Afridi to Philip Salt, 1 run
Shaheen Afridi to Philip Salt, FOUR
Shaheen Afridi to Philip Salt, no run
Shaheen Afridi to Luke Ronchi, OUT
KARACHI: Lahore Qalanders won the toss and chose to bowl against Islamabad United at the 27th match in Karachi 's National Stadium on Saturday.
The encounter between the two teams which starts at 7:00 pm is expected to draw huge crowd as it is the first match of Pakistan-leg of the tournament.
Both sides are aiming to strengthen their chances of securing play-off spots.
Islamabad are currently placed third on the table with eight points from nine games, while Lahore are having fifth spot with six points from eight matches. If the United win they will move to the next round but it will be difficult for the Qalandars to progress to the next stage as they will have to win their last match against Multan Sultans (Monday, March 11) with a massive margin that can improve their net run-rate.
Fast bowler Mohammad Sami is leading Islamabad United and opener Fakhar Zaman is captaining Lahore Qalandars in this match to be played at 7-00 pm at the National Stadium, Karachi on Saturday.
Islamabad United have happy memories of the National Stadium where they won their second PSL title last year, defeating Peshawar Zalmi.
The highest total by Lahore Qalandars is 204/4, a record score by any team in PSL4, (vs Multan Sultans, at Sharjah, Feb 22) while 177/5 is the highest by Islamabad United (vs Lahore Qalandars at Dubai on Feb 14).
The most runs scored for the United are 297 (ave 37.12) in nine matches, by Luke Ronchi, with three fifties while the most for the Qalandars are 218 (ave 54.50) in seven matches, by AB de Villiers with one half-century.
The highest wicket-taker for the United is medium-pacer Faheem Ashraf, who has claimed 13 wickets (ave 18.07) with one four-wicket haul while the highest wicket-taker for the Qalandrs is medium-fast bowler Haris Rauf, who has taken eleven wickets at an average of 18.00 with one four-wicket haul.
Squads
Islamabad United: Mohammad Sami (captain), Sahibzada Farhan, Luke Ronchi, Cameron Delport, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Asif Ali, Waqas Maqsood, Rizwan Hussain, Samit Patel, Philip Salt, Amad Butt, Shadab Khan, Ian Bell, Wayne Parnell, Rumman Raees, Muhammad Musa.
Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman (captain), Salman Butt, Sohail Akhtar, Agha Salman, Corey Anderson, Brandan Taylor, Carlos Brathwaite, Anton Devcich, Gauhar Ali, Hardus Viljoen, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Rahat Ali, Hassan Khan, David Wiese, Sandeep Lamichhane
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