Cameron Delport hammered the fastest century of the Pakistan Super League as holders Islamabad United trounced Lahore Qalandars by 49 runs to qualify for the play-offs at National Stadium here Saturday. The defending champions not only rode on unbeaten century from Delport but also by a six-for by Faheem Ashraf to outclass their rivals, whose own play-off hopes now rest on how Karachi Kings fare in their remaining two fixtures. The return of PSL to Karachi could not have been more rousing as Islamabad batsmen made the homecoming of the 2019 edition truly memorable. Delport smashed an unbeaten 60-ball 117 to propel Islamabad to 238-3 — highest total in all PSL — in 20 overs at a near-packed 32,000 capacity National Stadium. Pacer Ashraf then chipped in with 6-19 — the second best figures in all PSL behind Karachi’s Ravi Bopara (6-16 vs Lahore at Sharjah in 2016) — as Lahore were restricted to 189-9 in 20 overs.
Besides the fastest hundred performance, there were a plethora of records that were broken. Islamabad’s total is now the highest in all PSL, ironically beating Lahore’s own 204 they made against Multan Sultans at Sharjah this year. Islamabad hit a total of 16 sixes – the most in an PSL teams innings – as Asif Ali also joined the party equaling Kamran Akmal’s record of fastest to 50-run mark (17 balls), during his 21-ball 55 not out.
It was a hero-to-zero situation for Lahore fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi who conceded 62 runs in his four overs after dismissing Luke Ronchi off the first ball of the match. The win — Islamabad’s fifth in ten games — gave them third place while the defeat leaves Lahore in a difficult situation as they need to beat Multan Sultans by a big margin on Sunday and hope Karachi lose both their remaining round matches. Lahore have six points from nine games while Karachi have eight points from eight. Quetta Gladiators are on top of the table with 14 points from nine matches. Peshawar Zalmi are second with 12 points in nine while Multan Sultans are out of play-off contention, with just four points in nine matches.
Lahore also tried to match Islamabad’s run riot but apart from Sohail Akhtar (34-ball 75 with five sixes and eight fours) and Fakhar Zaman (20-ball 38 with three sixes and four boundaries) the innings fell apart. Sohail added 54 for the fifth-wicket with David Wiese (12) but Faheem struck at regular intervals, with wickets of Zaman, Anton Devcich (18), Haris Sohail (nought), Sohail, Salman Agha (three) and Shaheen Afridi (one) to end Lahore’s fight.
Brief scores:
Islamabad United beat Lahore Qalandars by 49 runs.
Islamabad United 238-3 in 20 overs (Cameron Delport 117 not out, Asif Ali 55 not out) VS Lahore Qalandars 189-9 in 20 overs (Sohail Akhtar 75; Faheem Ashraf 6-19).
Published in Daily Times, March 10th 2019.