SHARJAH: Lahore Qalandars’ hopes of reaching the 2017 HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) playoffs remained very much alive on Monday night after a nerve-racking one-wicket win over Islamabad United.

Lahore’s second victory against the reigning champions has suddenly infused great interest into the competition as none of the franchises is out of the reckoning as yet. The five teams will now move to Dubai for the remaining preliminary round fixtures from Thursday.

The sensational outcome in the last league game at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium is the first PSL match to result in a one-wicket victory margin as Lahore surged into the second spot, behind leaders Quetta Gladiators with dropping to third, followed by Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings.

The man to save the day for Lahore was the temperamental Pakistan right-hander Umar Akmal, who blazed his way to 66 from 42 balls, striking 50 of his runs in boundaries (eight fours and three sixes) before being deceived by a Shadab Khan googly.

It was then left to veteran Grant Elliott (26 off 17 balls) to see the Qalandars home in the last over by depositing Mohammad Sami for a six.

Lahore’s chase began on a tentative note as both Irfan and Sami rattled the openers with short-pitched deliveries. Cameron Delport (12) was caught at point off a top edge after he hooked an Irfan delivery.

McCullum (11) never looked settled and was caught by his opposite number, Misbah, inside the 30-yard circle for another low score. And when Shadab removed Fakhar Zaman, Lahore were in tatters at 35-3.

Umar and Mohammad Rizwan stemmed the rot briefly until Shane Watson cleaned up the Pakistan wicket-keeper/batsman. The sight of Mohammad Irfan, the 21-year-old right-arm speedster who was listed to bat at No 10, coming in at No 6 surprised everyone. But the move failed as Irfan was run out at the non-striker’s end without scoring. After being sent in to bat — the 14th straight occurrence in the ongoing tournament — Islamabad were heading nowhere when an inspirational PSL debut from pace-bowling all-rounder Aamir Yamin (3-17) was instrumental in reducing them to 83-6 in the 14th over.

Shadab showed his batting prowess with a career-best 42 off 24 balls (three sixes and two fours) as he and Amad Butt (17) added 53 in 32 balls, but 145-8 was never going to be enough.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

D.R. Smith lbw b Yasir 20

Riffatullah Mohmand c Rizwan b Aamir 18

B.J. Haddin b Aamir 1

B.M. Duckett b Yasir 14

Misbah-ul-Haq c Rizwan b Aamir 16

S.R. Watson lbw b Narine 7

Shadab Khan run out 42

Amad Butt c McCullum b Sohail 17

Mohammad Sami not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-3) 9

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 20 overs) 145

FALL OF WKTS: 1-32, 2-37, 3-41, 4-73, 5-79, 6-83, 7-136, 8-145.

DID NOT BAT: Rumman Raees Khan, Mohammad Irfan.

BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 4-0-36-1; Aamir Yamin 4-0-17-3; Narine 4-0-20-1; Yasir Shah 4-0-27-2 (1w); Mohammad Irfan 3-0-27-0; Elliott 1-0-12-0 (1w).

LAHORE QALANDARS:

C.S. Delport c Shadab b Irfan 12

B.B. McCullum c Misbah b Rumman 11

Fakhar Zaman lbw b Shadab 6

Umar Akmal lbw b Shadab 66

Mohammad Rizwan b Watson 3

Mohammad Irfan run out 0

G.D. Elliott not out 26

S.P. Narine lbw b Rumman 12

Sohail Tanvir c Smith b Rumman 1

Aamir Yamin c Smith b Sami 0

Yasir Shah not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, NB-5) 9

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 19.2 overs) 146

FALL OF WKTS: 1-27, 2-29, 3-35, 4-54, 5-69, 6-110, 7-134, 8-140, 9-140.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 4-0-22-1; Mohammad Sami 3.2-0-26-1 (1nb); Rumman Raees Khan 4-0-26-3; Shadab Khan 4-0-28-2; Watson 3-0-25-1; Amad Butt 1-0-15-0.

UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab (Pakistan) and Ahsan Raza (Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).

MAN OF THE MATCH: Umar Akmal.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2017