Rashid Khan put up a brilliant display of his hitting prowess to propel Lahore Qalandars to a last-ball win over Islamabad United. Chasing 144, Lahore made a meal out of morsel, dragging the game to the last ball. With 16 needed off the last over, Rashid made 15 off the first five balls before running a single. Lahore won by five wickets.
The United got off an ordinary start, losing two wickets inside the first four overs. James Faulkner was probing in his opening spell, bowling Colin Munro through the gates before having Rohail Nazar caught by Fakhar Zaman at point in the subsequent over.
Faulkner struck once again in the last over of the Powerplay, removing captain Shadab Khan to reduce United to 42/3. Usman Khawaja then gave an easy catch to Faulkner at third man off Haris Rauf in the next over.
Rashid put the brakes on to IU’s progression in the middle phase, conceding just nine runs from four overs. Hussain Talat, dancing down the track for a wild hoick, saw his stumps uprooted as Rashid did well to adjust his length in time.
Faheem Ashraf made 27 off 24 balls, the highest score of the innings. Handy contributions from Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim Jr propelled Islamabad to 143.
Ashraf then provided his team with an early breakthrough, ending Fakhar Zaman’s stay in the fourth over. Zaman struggled for his strokes, and could only make 9 off 15 balls.
Captain Sohail Akhtar stoop up to the occasion and arrested a collapse by forging a 38-run partnership with Mohammad Hafeez (29). Akhtar made a 30-ball 40 with the help of five fours and a six, before getting lbw to Fawad Ahmed.
The Qalandars’ chase got derailed after Hafeez’s dismissal. They now needed 40 runs off the last four overs, with Ben Dunk and Tim David at the crease. Dunk hit Ashraf for six in the 17th over before Wasim Jr got conceded just seven off the next over.
With 16 needed off the last over, Rashid went on to play a blinder, smashing three consecutive fours off Hussain Talat in the last overs to guide Lahore to an improbable victory.
Brief scores:
Islamabad United 143/9 in 20 overs (Faheem Ashraf 27; James Faulkner 3-32) lost to Lahore Qalandars 144/5 in 20 overs (Sohail Akhtar 40; Hasan Ali 2-27) by 5 wickets with 0 ball to spare. Player of the Match: Rashid Khan.