PSL 2019: Islamabad United's Cameron Delport returns to haunt Lahore Qalandars with sensational ton

The South Africa batsman’s ton is the first-ever in PSL history to be scored on Pakistan soil and was littered with some mighty hits to the boundary ropes. Here, we take a closer look at the 29-year-old’s display against his former employers Lahore.

STATISTICS

RUNS SCORED: 117*

BALLS FACED: 60

BOUNDARIES: 13

SIXES: 6

STRIKE-RATE: 195

30-SECOND REPORT

Opening the batting for Islamabad, Delport saw Luke Ronchi and Philip Salt fall early at the other end but the South African was in the mood from the very go at Karachi. Making full use of the powerplay restrictions, the left-hander brought up his half-century off just 23 balls with some lusty hitting.

He shared a 118-run stand for the third wicket alongside Chadwick Walton and continued to go on the charge even when the latter fell for 48. Delport brought up his third T20 ton off just 49 deliveries after thrashing Sandeep Lamichhane for two consecutive sixes.

The South African continued his onslaught in the death overs where he played second fiddle to Asif Ali who brought up a record joint fasted PSL fifty off just 17 balls.

GOT RIGHT

Positive mindset from ball one. Delport has not had the best of PSL campaigns with Islamabad with a 71 in the clash against Peshawar Zalmi at Dubai being his only saving grace prior to the Pakistan leg.

However, he was determined to play on the front foot from the very go at Karachi and that positive approach paid off handsomely. Making full use of the lightening-quick outfield and the unusually small boundary lengths at the National Stadium, Delport was middling the ball beautifully with Lahore’s bowlers being taken to the cleaners.

On an excellent batting pitch, Delport was equally effective against both pacers and spinners in what is probably the best T20 innings he has ever played.

GOT WRONG

With his ‘see ball, hit ball’ approach on Saturday, Delport was always living on the edge. That could have proved costly for the Islamabad opener when he was batting on 26 with Sohail Akhtar putting down a catch in the deep.

Delport had failed to get a clean connection on the Shaheen Afridi delivery but a lack of communication between Akhtar and Agha Salman saw the chance ultimately put down by Lahore.

That proved to be costly for the Qalandars with Delport making them pay in some style.

VERDICT – 10/10

With his patchy displays in the UAE leg of the 2019 PSL, questions marks were being raised over Delport’s spot in the Islamabad playing XI. However, the South African erased those doubts in the most perfect of occasions just when his team needed it the most.

Granted, the conditions for batting were excellent at the National Stadium but Delport still had to hit those runs and he did it with aplomb in the end. By registering the first-ever PSL ton on Pakistan soil, Delport’s knock will be live long in the history books of the competition.