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Islamabad win PSL final with Karachi back on int’l cricket map

Baseer Ahmed
By Baseer Ahmed
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Baseer Ahmed
Baseer Ahmedhttps://arynews.tv

KARACHI: Luke Ronchi and Asif Ali pumped quick runs into the scorecard to guide Islamabad United to telling victory against Peshawar Zalmi in the high-voltage grand finale of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 3 in Karachi on Sunday.

In pursuit for 149 runs target, Ronchi’s blistering fifty set the momentum, but immediately after his wicket was thrown a domino-effect of falling of wickets was witnessed on one side, as only Sahibzada Farhan had his wicket intact for quite a longer run, until Kamran Akmal’s costly miss off Asif Ali’s strike on 14.4 overs.

From here unbeaten Asif (26 from 6) launched a crazy onslaught to make it one-sided match with three back-to-back maximums off Hasan Ali. United successfully chased the score with 3.1 overs to spare.

“Hard hitting is my natural game. The coaching staff encouraged me to play that way. Pressure was of course there, but I have won a number of matches for Faisalabad playing this way. Playing under pressure gives me a lot of enjoyment. My friends say that you are made for big games,” said Asif Ali.

Talking to Ramiz Raja, Peshawar Zalmi skipper Darren Sammy said: “I am looking forward to playing more cricket in Pakistan.”

The tournament’s top run-getter, Ronchi bagged Man of the Match Award as well as PSL 2018’s Player of the Tournament Award.

Ronchi started off the proceedings with two towering sixes in the first over of the inning bowled by Hasan Ali followed by 15 runs milked in the fourth over of the inning bowled by Liam Dawson. 

He raised his half-century on just 25 deliveries and got out after scoring 52 runs off 26 balls that included 5 sixes and four boundaries. He emerged as the highest run-scorer with 435 runs. The former Kiwi batsman contributed 96 runs with Sahibzada Farhan in just 53 balls.

 

Sahibzada Farhan carried on his flamboyant batting despite losing Chadwick Walton and JP Duminy cheaply, both to Chris Jordan.
He, Samit Patel and Shadab Khan lost their wickets in quick successions at a score of 44, 10 and 1 run respectively. The sudden collapse gave an impression of  a possible twist in the tale.
Wahab Riaz got rid of Hussain Talat (7), but it was too late as the scores were level at that time.
Asif Ali remained unbeaten on 26 off 6 deliveries which featured three 6’s. Faheem Ashraf finished off the game with a six.
Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali and Chris Jordan took two wickets each in the innings.
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi’s star performers, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Darren Sammy flopped with the blade scoring 1, 8 and 6 runs respectively.
Their gamble of sending Chris Jordan at fourth position proved to be fruitful as he scored 36 runs off 26 deliveries. He had a handy 50 runs partnership with Liam Dawson. Zalmi looked well-settled on a score of 90/4 in 12.3 overs to launch for a big score, but wickets at quick successions changed the situation in Islamabad United’s favour.
However, Dawson lost his wicket soon after Jordan’s departure that increased Zalmi’s problems.
Shadab Khan was instrumental in the game as he took three wickets for 25 runs in four overs, which had two back-to-back wickets of Darren Sammy and Umaid Asif that dented them severely.
Wahab Riaz’s late blitz took Peshawar Zalmi to a competitive total of 148/9.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was the chief guest on the occasion, was present in the stadium and enjoyed the revival of international cricket in Karachi after nine years.

Governor Sindh Muhammad Zubair, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Director General Inter Services Public Relations Major General Asif Ghafoor were also among the prominent dignitaries witnessing the match.

Glimpses of today’s closing ceremony held earlier in the evening:

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Islamabad United 154/7 (Overs 16.5)

OVER 17: Wahab Riaz (W-0-0-0-6)

Asif Ali: 26 (6)

Faheem Ashraf: 6

Hussain Talat: 7 (11)

OVER 16: Hasan Ali (1-6-6-6-1-1)

Hussain Talat: 7

Asif Ali: 26

OVER 15: Umaid Asif (2-0-1-6-1-)

Hussain Talat: 5

Asif Ali: 7

OVER 14: Hasan Ali (W-0-0-0-1-W)

Hussain Talat: 1

Shadab Khan: 1 (2)

Samit Patel: 10 (13)

OVER 13: Chris Jordan (1-0-0-0-1-0-1)
Samit Patel: 10

Shadab Khan: 1

OVER 12: Wahab Riaz (1-4-0-0-1-W)
Samit Patel: 9

Sahibzada Farhan: 44 (33)

OVER 11: Chris Jordan (1-1-W-0-0-4-)
Sahibzada Farhan: 43

Samit Patel: 4

JP Duminy: 2 (4)

OVER 10: Umaid Asif (W-0-1-0-2-0)
Sahibzada Farhan: 42

JP Duminy: 1

Chadwick Walton: 0 (2)

OVER 9: Chris Jordan (0-6-1-1-4-1-W)
Sahibzada Farhan: 40

Chadwick Walton: 0

Luke Ronchi: 52 (26)

OVER 8: Umaid Asif (4-1-1-2-1-0)
Luke Ronchi: 48

Sahibzada Farhan: 33

OVER 7: Wahab Riaz (0-1-4-2-1-0)
Luke Ronchi: 47

Sahibzada Farhan: 25

OVER 6: Umaid Asif (0-1-2-0-0-0)
Luke Ronchi: 46

Sahibzada Farhan: 18

OVER 5: Wahab Riaz (4-0-0-0-0-0)
Luke Ronchi: 45

Sahibzada Farhan: 16

OVER 4: Liam Dawson (4-1-4-6-0-0)
Luke Ronchi: 45

Sahibzada Farhan: 8

OVER 3: Hasan Ali (1-1-1-4-0-0-6-4)
Luke Ronchi: 35

Sahibzada Farhan: 3

OVER 2: Sameen Gul (0-0-1-6-1-1)
Luke Ronchi: 21

Sahibzada Farhan: 2

OVER 1: Hasan Ali (0-0-0-6-6-2)
Luke Ronchi: 14

Sahibzada Farhan: 0

Peshawar Zalmi 148/9 (Overs 20)

OVER 20: Wahab Riaz (1-0-4-4-0-2)
Wahab Riaz: 28

Sameen Gul: 2

OVER 19: Mohammad Sami (0-0-0-1-1-6-4)
Wahab Riaz: 18

Sameen Gul: 1

OVER 18: Faheem Ashraf (2-0-0-1-W-4)
Wahab Riaz: 8

Sameen Gul: 0

Hasan Ali: 6 (5)

OVER 17: Mohammad Sami (0-4-1-W-0-1)
Hasan Ali: 6

Wahab Riaz: 1

Liam Dawson: 33 (30)

OVER 16: Shadab Khan (1-0-0-W-W-1)
Liam Dawson: 33

Hasan Ali: 1

Umaid Asif: 0 (1)

Darren Sammy: 6 (6)

OVER 15: Hussain Talat (W-1-4-1-1-1-1)

Liam Dawson: 32

Darren Sammy: 6

Saad Nasim: 2 (4)

OVER 14: Amad Butt (2-0-4-1-0-1)

Liam Dawson: 30

Saad Nasim: 2

OVER 13: Hussain Talat (1-6-W-1-1-1)

Liam Dawson: 23

Saad Nasim: 1

Chris Jordan: 36 (26)

OVER 12: Faheem Ashraf (0-1-1-1-1-1)

Chris Jordan: 30

Liam Dawson: 21

OVER 11: Amad Butt (1-1-0-1-1-1)

Chris Jordan: 28

Liam Dawson: 18

OVER 10: Shadab Khan (1-6-1-0-2-1)

Chris Jordan: 26

Liam Dawson: 15

OVER 9: Faheem Ashraf (1-0-0-1-6-1)

Chris Jordan: 19

Liam Dawson: 11

OVER 8: Shadab Khan (2-1-1-6-0-0)

Chris Jordan: 18

Liam Dawson: 3

OVER 7: Samit Patel (0-1-1-1-1-1)

Chris Jordan: 9

Liam Dawson: 2

OVER 6: Shadab Khan (0-1-0-0-1-W)

Chris Jordan: 6

Andre Fletcher: 21 (15)

OVER 5: Samit Patel (W-4-0-1-4-1)

Andre Fletcher: 20

Chris Jordan: 5

Mohammad Hafeez: 8 (6)

OVER 4: Mohammad Sami (1-0-4-1-6-1)

Andre Fletcher: 15

Mohammad Hafeez: 7

OVER 3: Samit Patel (4-4-1-W-0-1)

Andre Fletcher: 1

Mohammad Hafeez: 10

Kamran Akmal: 1 (9)

OVER 2: Mohammad Sami (0-0-0-0-1-1)

Kamran Akmal: 1

Andre Fletcher: 1

OVER 1: Samit Patel (0-0-1-0-0-0-)

Kamran Akmal: 1

Andre Fletcher: 0

Earlier in the evening, a star-studded entertaining concluding ceremony of the PSL 3 was held here at National Stadium Karachi.

Scores of showbiz and cricket celebrities and other dignitaries attended the mega event. Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United teams were also witnessing the colorful occasion from the dressing room.

Aima Baig sang ‘Sakon Yar Manawna Hey’. Farhan Saeed’s rendition also made people shake a leg. Strings band and Shehzad Roy’s performances extremely amused the spectators. Andre Fletcher, Darren Sammy, Kamran Akmal and Hassan Ali grooved on Strings’ ‘Hai Koi Hum Jaisa’.

Ali Zafar sang PSL 3 title song “Seeti Bajay Gi”.

United skipper JP Duminy climbed the stage and won the hearts of the crowd with “Assalam-o-Alaikum” in majestic voice. He was all praise for the return of the cricket to Pakistan and crowd in Karachi.

Zalmi captain Sammy asked Karachiites “kesay ho” (how are you). He thanked all the participants for their love.

“Hopefully, the residents of Karachi will get to see some good cricket today.”

He also chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.

Tight security arrangements were in place as a huge crowd of spectators thronged the stadium to experience the first major cricketing event in Karachi in the last nine years.

The terrorists who put Pakistan cricket in a deadlock have been defeated as hundreds of fans, fighting the heat and near-suffocating security blanket had reached the stadium.

It was like a big festival for the nearly 20-million people of the metropolis. The city was buzzing with hoardings welcoming the international as well as local players.

Addressing the ceremony, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi gave credit to law enforcement agencies including Rangers, police and Army for providing impressive security for the event.

He said Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah contributed with his immense services for the event to make it possible.

“Every organ of the state has worked day and night to bring the game back. There was a scare earlier, but we’re over it now. Next year, we’re hoping half of the PSL matches will be played in Pakistan,” he said.

Sethi asked people to throng to stadiums in other upcoming international events in the megapolis as well.

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