SHARJAH: Shane Watson and Sharjeel Khan put on an exhibition of power hitting as Islamabad United crushed Lahore Qalandars to register an eight-wicket win in the opening game of the Sharjah leg of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Wednesday.

The duo slammed 79 each, with a combined 14 sixes, making a mockery of Lahore’s total of 166, to pick up their second win on the trot. Lahore, who had resuscitated a wobbly start to the season with a win over league leaders Quetta to finish the Dubai leg, now return to the bottom of the standings, their net run rate heavily damaged by the defeat.

In stark contrast to the Dubai leg of the tournament, the second phase got underway with the bat firmly re-establishing its dominant status in shortest format of the game. As many as three ball changes were enforced as batsmen gleefully hit sixes dangerously close to the moving cars on the road adjoining the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Sharjeel began Islamabad’s chase of 167 like a run-away train. Two monstrous sixes and a couple of fours brought him 20 runs off an Ehsan Adil. United had 44 on the board in four overs. Not to be left behind, Watson, standing in as captain for the injured Misbah-ul-Haq, unleashed his fury on young Zafar Gohar, muscling the left-arm spinner over mid-wicket for two sixes, the second of which was recorded at having travelled 104 metres.

Lahore’s bowling frailties were exacerbated by a lackadaisical fielding performance with as many as three catches dropped. Watson, who was first shelled by Cameron Delport when on 11, took a liking to left-arm spinner Zohaib Khan, hitting him for a succession of boundaries. The left-armer conceded 25 in his second over with the openers attempting to outdo one another in a big-hitting contest.

Watson completed a 37-ball 50 before Sharjeel went one better by getting to the mark off his 26th delivery.

Islamabad had reached 119 for no loss in 11 overs. Watson was eventually caught by Mohammad Rizwan for a 47-ball 79 and Adil helped himself to another wicket when Russell hit one straight to Umar Akmal. But Sharjeel ended unbeaten to propel Islamabad to victory with 25 balls to spare.

Earlier, a lower-order blitz from Rizwan helped Lahore to what appeared a competitive total after the Azhar Ali-led side encountered another middle-order wobble.

Both teams wanted to field first. Islamabad, who had made a plethora of changes, did just that after winning the toss. But Watson’s ploy to open with Andre Russell and himself backfired as Azhar Ali got off to a rollicking start, capitalizing on the ground’s short straight boundaries.

However, Mohammad Sami got United back into the game with two quick strikes. The fast bowler beat Delport’s attempted defence to crash into middle stump and then struck again with a skiddy delivery to send Azhar Ali back to the hut after a quick-fire 27.

Umar Akmal was lucky to survive an LBW call off Imran Khalid when on 1. He shared a brisk 40-run stand with Naved Yasin before the latter edged Saeed Ajmal to keeper Brad Haddin.

Umar made a run-a-ball 23.

Scoreboard

LAHORE QALANDARS:

Azhar Ali lbw b Sami 27 C.S. Delport b Sami 3 Naved Yasin c Haddin b Ajmal 25 Umar Akmal lbw b Imran 23 D.J. Bravo run out 26 Mohammad Rizwan not out 50 K.K. Cooper c and b Rumman 0 Zohaib Khan not out 3

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-7) 9

TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 166

FALL OF WKTS: 1-20, 2-46, 3-87, 4-89, 5-149, 6-163.

DID NOT BAT: Zafar Gohar, Ehsan Adil, B.A.W. Mendis.

BOWLING: Russell 4-0-34-0; Watson 2-0-24-0 (1w); Mohammad Sami 3-0-21-2; Rumman Raees Khan 4-0-37-1; Imran Khalid 2-0-16-1 (1w); Saeed Ajmal 4-0-26-1; Kamran Ghulam 1-0-6-0.

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

S.R. Watson c Rizwan b Ehsan 79 Sharjeel Khan not out 79 A.D. Russell c Umar b Ehsan 2 B.J. Haddin not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-6) 9

TOTAL (for two wkts, 15.5 overs) 169

FALL OF WKTS: 1-153, 2-157.

DID NOT BAT: Khalid Latif, S.W. Billings, Kamran Ghulam, Imran Khalid, Mohammad Sami, Rumman Raees Khan, Saeed Ajmal.

BOWLING: Bravo 4-0-28-0 (1w); Ehsan Adil 3.5-0-41-2 (3w); Cooper 2-0-29-0 (1w); Zafar Gohar 2-0-15-0; Mendis 2-0-23-0; Zohaib Khan 2-0-30-0 (1w).

RESULT: Islamabad United won by eight wickets.

UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and J.S. Wilson (West Indies).

TV UMPIRE: Shozab Raza (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Anees (Pakistan).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Sharjeel Khan (Islamabad United).

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2016