PSL 2017, Match 4 Review: Jason Roy powers Lahore Qalandars to a comprehensive victory

After losing their opening encounter of PSL 2 to the Quetta Gladiators yesterday, Lahore Qalandars made a strong comeback and clinched their 2nd match of the season against defending champions Islamabad United. Riding on a quickfire half-century by captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Islamabad reached 158 in their allotted 20 overs. Sam Billings and Dwayne Smith also chipped in with crucial knock top of the order. Chasing the modest target, Lahore Qalandars romped home by 6 wickets and with 10 balls to spare. Jason Roy was the top scorer with 60.

Winning the toss for the 2nd consecutive time, Brendon McCullum put their oppositions in. Sohail Tanvir bowled a superb opening over which yielded only 2 runs. Mohammad Irfan backed it up with yet another tight over as Islamabad got off to a slow start. Sam Billing started off with a boundary of Sohail Tanvir in the final delivery of the 3rd over and Smith was not far behind either as the Caribbean smashed a hat-trick of boundaries of Irfan in the 4th over.

Now it was the turn of Sunil Narine to face the onslaught from Smith and Billings. Both struck 3 boundaries as Qalandars raced off to 48/0 at the end of their powerplay. The first six of the match came from the bat of Sam Billings as the right-hander smashed Bilawal Bhatti for a big six in the 9th over but couldn’t carry on as he gave away his wicket in the very next over to Grant Elliot. The medium pacer stemmed their run-flow by dismissing Dwayne Smith also in the same over.

Captain Misbah and Brad Haddin looked to put the innings back on track. Grant Elliot got his 3rd wicket when he deceived Brad Haddin with a beautiful slower delivery. Misbah changed gears in the last 5 overs and started smashing the bowlers all round the park. He smashed 5 big sixes during his unbeaten innings of 61 which also contained 3 fours. The Islamabad United eventually ended their 20 overs at the score of 158.

Chasing a competitive total, Lahore Qalandars began in a blistering fashion with captain Brendon McCullum smashing Imran Khalid for 21 runs in the opening over. He smashed 3 fours and a six in the first over followed by a hat-trick of boundaries in the 2nd over. The Qalandars raced off to 36/0 in 2 overs nad looked well in pursuit of the modest run-chase. Ruman Raees got the prized scalp of McCullum in the 3rd over and Mohammad Sami added another in a matter of minutes to reduce them to 43/2 in 4 overs.

Roy was joined by Umar Akmal in the middle as the duo set to revive the run-chase. Umar Akmal began with a couple of boundaries of Shadab Khan in the 7th over. The duo batted sensibly and found the gaps on regular intervals. At the end of 10 overs, Qalandars were comfortably placed at 86/2. Watson was smashed for a big six by Umar Akmal in the 11th over to bring up the 50 runs partnership. Watson finally had the last laugh as he removed Akmal in the 15th over but by ten he had done the damage.

Saeed Ajmal removed Grant Elliot in the 16th over to revive the hopes of Islamabad United. Their hopes were put to rest by Sunil Narine and Jason Roy as the duo yielded 21 runs from the 17th over which brought down the calculation to only 10 required off the last 3. The rest were formalities as Qalandars reached their target in the 19th over. For his brilliant unbeaten match-winning innings, Jason Roy was awarded the Player of the Match.

Brief Scores

Islamabad United 158/7 in 20 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 61*, Sam Billings 37, Grant Elliot 4/23)

Lahore Qalandars 160/4 in 18.2 overs (Jason Roy 60*, Umar Akmal 35, Rumman Raees 1/19)

Lahore Qalandars won by 6 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)