Twitter Reactions: Lahore Qalandars face fourth defeat of the season, courtesy Colin Munro's fiery knock

The joy of registering their first win of the season didn’t last long for the Lahore Qalandars as they succumbed to yet another humiliating defeat on Wednesday. It seemed like they might’ve found some rhythm after a breathtaking victory against the defending champions Quetta Gladiators, but the two-time champions Islamabad United wasted no time in bringing them down to the ground.

Colin Munro was the man who fired in all cylinders with the bat for Islamabad, who joined the party with the top run-scorer of the tournament, Luke Ronchi. The Kiwi cricketer continued his golden touch and was backing up his fellow countryman brilliantly to let him bat freely.

The duo added another 100-run partnership to their credit in the shortest format, with Munro completing his half-century as well. Ronchi came close to the landmark but fell just two runs short of it. Skipper Shadab Khan’s experiment to promote himself up the order failed to reap any benefit, but Colin Ingram helped Munro play his natural game.

This duo added a quickfire 46 runs for the third wicket, which set the tone brilliantly for Asif Ali to come in. He banged a 6-ball 20 in the death overs, which helped Islamabad United finish with 198 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. Just the way it happened with Ben Dunk the other day, Colin Munro remained at the other end fell short of his hundred (87 off 59 balls).

Rumman Raees and Zafar Gohar curtail the Qalandars to a low score

The chase was always going to be tricky, but with men like Chris Lynn and Ben Dunk at their disposal, anything was possible. However, Dale Steyn had other ideas and made the hosting team’s life miserable. He bowled an absolute ripper to dismiss Lynn just a couple of overs later, while Akif Javed dismissed the dangerous Mohammad Hafeez.

Once the new ball bowlers provided the initial breakthrough, Rumman Raees, Zafar Gohar and the leg-spinner Shadab Khan took over the proceedings. The Lahore middle-order barely had a spine strong enough to capacitate the brilliance of their opposition, which ensured they never were in the chase, right from the outset.

Shadab and Gohar cleaned up the middle order whilst Raees was too harsh to the tail, which meant the Qalandars got bowled out for just 127 runs in 18.5 overs. Rumman Raees and Zafar Gohar picked up three wickets each, while the skipper returned with a brace.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Lahore losing the game almost immediately.