Islamabad United did a huge favour to Karachi Kings by inflicting a five-wicket defeat upon Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League on Wednesday night.
Lahore had to win the last match of the league phase at the Dubai International Stadium to qualify for the playoffs ahead of Karachi but they came up short first by failing to put up a big score and then their bowling continued to flounder as they crashed to their sixth defeat in eight games.
Although Lahore finished with four points, the same as Karachi, they failed to make the cut as they had lost both the league games to Shoaib Malik’s team. Interestingly, the teams that finished at the bottom were the most expensive while the ‘cheapest’ side raked in the maximum points in the five-team standings.
Karachi, bought for $2.6m, had to wait until the conclusion of the final match of the league phase to ensure their passage into the playoffs while Lahore, sold for $2.5m, ended up last.
On the other hand, Quetta Gladiators, who went for $1.1m, finished with 10 points – the same as toppers Peshawar Zalmi.
Lahore started on a disastrous note after being put into bat and were 6-3 but they did well to recover to post 150-5 in 20 overs on the back of Sohaib Maqsood and Umar Akmal’s fighting 97-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
While Akmal remained unbeaten on a brilliant 72 off 49 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes, Maqsood’s 57 off 44 balls contained five fours and two maximums.
Islamabad’s bowling honours went to the lanky left-arm paceman Mohammad Irfan, who claimed his first wickets in the league. After two wicketless outings, he turned in superb figures of 3-22 that fetched him the man-of-the-match award.
He put down his improved display to the work he had done with team director and bowling coach Wasim Akram.
“In the earlier games I was not able to find my rhythm but with Wasim bhai helping me in training, everything has worked out well,” he said.
Islamabad’s chase was led by retired Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (54 off 42 balls) and captain Misbah-ul Haq (38 not out off 19 balls) as they reached the 152-run target with more than an over to spare.
Islamabad will face Karachi in the second playoff on Saturday while Peshawar and Quetta feature in the first playoff on Friday. The loser of the first playoff will clash with the winner of the second playoff in the third playoff on Sunday with the final scheduled on Tuesday.
Misbah, struggling with a calf strain, felt the back-to-back wins have boosted Islamabad’s confidence for the upcoming playoffs.
“For the first time, we have won a couple of games together, and that’s a really good sign going into the next stage. It has given us a lot of belief.”
Lahore made a bold attempt to qualify in their last two games, especially on Tuesday when they raised 201 against Quetta, but fielding lapses and poor bowling cost them dear.
