SHARJAH: Islamabad United, who won the inaugural HBL Pakistan Super League in 2016, made sure that they topped the points table in the league stage of the current edition after easily defeating Quetta Gladiators by six wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium late on Thursday night.

Chasing a moderate target of 148, Islamabad strolled to their seventh victory in nine matches. J.P. Duminy, the South African left-hander who has consented to play in the Pakistan leg of the competition, anchored the chase with a solid knock of 54 off 47 balls. His innings was studded with four fours and two sixes.

Asif Ali finished the game by depositing Rahat Ali over midwicket for a six. Islamabad now await Friday’s last league ties to know who they would actually face in the qualifier in Dubai on Sunday since Quetta, who have completed their league fixtures, could lose their second position if Karachi Kings beat Islamabad.

After having decided to bat first, Quetta’s innings failed to gain any momentum after a shaky start. The overseas trio in the top-four batting contributed just 32 runs.

Shane Watson perished for eight while going for an expansive stroke against spinner Samit Patel in the third over while Jason Roy was cleaned up by Amad Butt for 17.

Kevin Pietersen edged a simple catch to Ronchi off Fahim Ashraf for seven. Fahim was the pick of the bowlers with 3-19.

At three down for 41 in seven overs, Quetta were in trouble and needed someone to bring some verve to their wavering innings. And although Sarfraz Ahmed and the recalled Umar Amin put on 64 at a decent rate, Islamabad controlled the game well through tight bowling and sharp fielding.

Scores in brief:

QUETTA GLADIATORS 147-7 in 20 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 43, Umar Amin 28; Fahim Ashraf 3-19, Amad Butt 2-30); ISLAMABAD UNITED 149-4 in 18.2 overs (J.P. Duminy 54, Hussain Talat 28 not out; Rahat Ali 2-33).

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2018