Twitter Reactions: Shadab Khan's five-fer takes Islamabad United to comprehensive victory

Brutal six-hitting from the likes of Paul Stirling, Colin Munro and Azam Khan helped Islamabad United produce a massive win over the Quetta Gladiators in the 10th game of PSL 2022. Skipper Shadab Khan also made his bat talk and scalped a five-fer. Earlier in the day, the Quetta Gladiators won the toss and opted to bowl at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The destructive opening combination of Stirling and Alex Hales showed their hitting skills in the powerplay by raising to the 50-run mark within the 4th over. Hales hit 22 off just 9 deliveries with five boundaries while his partner Stirling blasted 58 off just 28 balls, hitting seven fours and three sixes. The side reached the 100th run mark within the 8th over and the stage was set for fireworks.

Shadab Khan could not repeat his heroics from the previous game as he was dismissed for just 9 while Munro and Azam Khan formed a massive partnership for the fourth wicket. The duo propelled the score past 200 comfortably with Munro staying unbeaten on 72 off just 39 deliveries and the left-hander hit five sixes and three fours in his brilliant innings. Azam(65) from the other end continued the six-hitting show and took Shahid Afridi to the cleaners.

Shadab dents the run chase with a five-wicket haul

The Quetta Gladiators had the daunting task of chasing down 230 in 20 overs at 11.5 Required run rate and they lost Abdul Bangalzai within the powerplay for just 14 runs. Ahsan Ali continued his good run of form with a 27 ball half-century while none of the batters got going from the other end. Skipper Shadab accounted for most of the wickets as he picked a brilliant five-wicket haul and reduced the Gladiators to 110 for 4 in just 13.4 overs.

However, Mohammad Nawaz and James Faulkner tried their hearts out with some tremendous six-hitting and the former especially, as in excellent touch scoring a 22 ball 47 and hit five sixes in his innings. Faulkner contributed an unbeaten 30 in just 14 deliveries and some responsible batting in the middle order could have certainly brought the side a ray of hope. In the end, it was a massive win by 43 runs for the Islamabad United side despite the leakage of boundaries at the back end.

With the win, the Islamabad United side has moved into the second position in the points table with four points and they have the best net run rate at the moment. The Quetta Gladiators meanwhile have lots to tinker about as they have lost three out of their four games and are in the fourth position in the points table.

Here’s how the Twitterati reacted to it: