Daily Times

KARACHI: Paul Stirling struck the third fastest fifty in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) history while Alex Hales sent every fourth ball he faced to the boundary and finished 82 not out as Islamabad United overhauled a target of 169 with nine wickets and 25 deliveries to spare in their PSL VII match against Peshawar Zalmi at National Stadium here on Sunday evening. This was pure domination.

Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi had posted 168 because of a remarkable 70 not out off 46 by Sherfane Rutherford. The left-handed batter helped Peshawar stage a recovery after walking in to bat with his team at a precarious 35 for four. He was supported by Ben Cutting (26 off 17) in the death as the two added 51 in 29 balls. While Rutherford was at the crease with an unbridled array of shots that defied the whole match situation. A hat-trick of boundaries ––– 6, 4, 6 – against the Islamabad captain Shadab Khan was the pick of the lot, and for a while the total he got his team up to ––– 168 for 6 –– seemed competitive.

But then Stirling opened up his shoulders and started breaking records. The Ireland batter struck seven of the ten balls he faced to the fence. Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Usman Qadir ––– none of them were spared. Islamabad flew to 78 for 0 at the end of the powerplay ––– an aggregate second only to their own 97 for 0 in 2021. From then on, there was very little jeopardy left in the chase. The two openers cruised to their respective half-centuries ––– Stirling in 18 balls, Hales in 32 ––– and the result of the match became a foregone conclusion.

Hales said after the match: “It was incredible to be out in the middle. The ball was coming onto the bat nicely. The wickets in Karachi are always good to bat on and today’s was a fantastic one to bat on. I thoroughly enjoyed the partnership with Paul Stirling and credit to him how he provided us a great start. Once he got going, all I had to do was carry the momentum and having him by my side eased the pressure off me. We have gotten an ideal start to the HBL PSL 2022 and now the idea is to build on this beginning. I am extremely excited for this season.”

Brief scores: Peshawar Zalmi 168-6, 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 70, Ben Cutting 26, Shoaib Malik 25; Faheem Ashraf 2-23, Hasan Ali 2-34) VS Islamabad United 172-1, 15.5 overs (Alex Hales 82 not out, Paul Stirling 57).