Thursday, February 11, 2016

today second psl match islamabad vs quetta

After a clinical victory yesterday Islamabad United face the strong Quetta Gladiators in the second match tonight. Which team do you think will come on top?

psl big match peshwer zalmi vs karachi kings

Shahid Afridi XI Peshawar Zalmi face Shohaib Malik XI Karachi Kings in the first match today. ‪#‎HBLPSL‬

‪#‎AskRamiz‬ your questions about the match and the teams involved to get a chance to win exciting prizes.

9TH MATCH REPORT: ISLAMABAD UNITED VS LAHORE QALANDARS

Sharjeel and Watson leave Qalandars clueless as United dominate

With both teams finally getting off the mark in their previous match ups, the stage was set for a close encounter between two evenly matched sides. Islamabad United were led by Shane Watson in Misbah Ul Haq’s absence, who was rested due to a calf injury, while Lahore Qalandars were without their front line batsman Chris Gayle once again. Islamabad won the toss and elected to field first as Azhar Ali and Cameron Delport came out to open the innings for Lahore. Azhar began stroking the ball early into his innings and smashed Watson for 14 runs in only the second over. Lahore were off to a decent start until Mohammad Sami came in to bowl in the third over. He beat Delport with sheer pace on his very first delivery as he bowled a ripper which struck the middle stump. Naved Yasin came out to the middle next, as Azhar kept the runs flowing. After being put away for two boundaries, Sami struck again to dismiss Azhar Ali in the sixth over, who departed after making 27 runs from 18 deliveries. Fresh from an astounding innings from the last game, Umar Akmal made his way on to the pitch as Lahore were 46/2 after six overs.

Umar Akmal announced himself with some convincing shots, including a gigantic six off Saeed Ajmal which landed on the roof! Ajmal bounced back by dismissing Naved in the same over as Brad Haddin caught a beauty behind the stumps. Just as Qalandars were beginning to score runs quickly, United grabbed the crucial wicket of Akmal as he was caught leg before by the young left arm spinner, Imran Khalid. Islamabad were jubilant after that wicket but Lahore Qalandars gained some momentum through Muhammad Rizwan and Dwayne Bravo who were determined to ensure their side got to a big total once again. Both these batsmen kicked up their gears and went after the bowlers with five overs remaining. Rumman Raees was smashed away for 17 runs in the 17th over as Rizwan looked unstoppable. Bravo kept scoring runs until he got run out through some brilliant fielding by Imran Khalid, departing for 26 from 17. Rizwan played aggressively in the end with some fantastic batting, as he made an impressive 50 from 27 balls, propelling Lahore to a decent 166/6 in their allotted overs.

Shane Watson and Sharjeel Khan came out all guns blazing for Islamabad United from the very first over, with Bravo being put away for 14 runs. Sharjeel was in sublime form and made it look all too easy as he hit sixes for fun! Ehsan Adil was taken to the cleaners by Sharjeel, who smashed him for 20 runs in the fourth over through some powerful hitting which left Lahore clueless. Watson was dropped early on by Cameron Delport, a mistake they were made to pay for as he began to free his arms and joined in on the fun. Watson hit the biggest six of the tournament (and there were plenty of big sixes in this match!) against Zafar Gohar, as the two batsmen tore the Qalandars apart. Both these batsmen started bossing the match as the Qalandars bowling were left absolutely clueless. It was raining sixes in Sharjah with both the openers in the form of their life. They quickly raced to their half centuries in quick succession as United looked extremely comfortable at 119/0 after 11 overs.

Watson was dropped once again in the 12th over, something which the Qalandars could not afford at all as the match was already beyond their reach by then. He made sure they were punished by smashing two consecutive sixes off Kevon Cooper right after, and it was only a matter of time before Islamabad wrapped it up. Shane Watson finally departed after a super catch behind the stumps from Muhammad Rizwan off Ehsan Adil, after an outstanding knock of 79 from 47 balls. The opening stand put together 153 runs on the board in what was a brutal partnership. Andre Russell was also sent back to the pavilion but it did not matter at all as Islamabad had pretty much sealed their victory by then. Sharjeel Khan finished the match with back to back sixes as he remained not out after scoring 79 from only 43 deliveries. United won the match by eight wickets, with 4 overs to spare, as Qalandars suffered another soul crushing defeat in the HBLPSL. Islamabad United are flying high after a disappointing start in the league, and have started to play some great cricket. Lahore Qalandars continue to struggle as they remain on the bottom of the points table.Sharjeel and Watson leave Qalandars clueless as United dominate

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

PSL T20 Live Score & Streaming: Islamabad United beat Lahore Qalandars by 8 wickets

SHARJAH (Staff Report) – Islamabad United defeated Lahore Qalandars by eight wickets in Pakistan Super League (PSL) ninth T20 match on Wednesday.

Islamabad United won the toss and invited Lahore Qalandars to bat.

Lahore Qalandars bats first in Pakistan Super League (PSL) T20 9th match and set 167-run target for Islamabad United on Wednesday.

Islamabad United captain Shane Watson won the toss and elected to field first against Lahore Qalandars in the ninth match of inaugural edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) here at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Watson assumed the duties of captaining the United in absence of Misbah-ul-Haq, who has been rested for being injured.

Both Lahore and Islamabad have each played three games at PSL so far, winning one game each as well. The match will further decide about the journey of two teams in the T20 event as the losing team would be in serious danger of being removed in the first round.

Pakistan Super League 2016 February 10, 2016 Watson, Sharjeel blitz gives Islamabad second win

A display of uninhibited hitting from Shane Watson and Sharjeel Khan helped Islamabad United secure an eight-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars in Sharjah on Wednesday night. A second successive victory meant Islamabad also lifted themselves off the bottom of the points table.

Watson, leading Islamabad after Misbah-ul-Haq failed to recover from a calf injury, smashed a 47-ball 79. Sharjeel matched him stroke-for-stroke in a 153-run opening stand before Ehsan Adil had Watson caught down the leg side, with Islamabad needing just 14 more. Andre Russell, promoted to No. 3, holed out for 2, but Sharjeel finished the game off with back-to-back sixes as Islamabad won with 25 balls and eight wickets to spare. Sharjeel finished unbeaten on 79 off 43 balls.

Lahore didn't make things easy for them as they gave Watson a reprieve on 11 when Cameron Delport put down a chance at square leg off Kevon Cooper. It proved to be a costly miss as Watson used the short side boundaries in Sharjah as his ally by crunching four fours and seven sixes.

The chase was kickstarted by Sharjeel, who hit Ehsan Adil for 20 runs off the fifth over. Watson caught on from there, doing a bulk of the scoring over the next seven overs off which 70 runs were scored. Watson was the first to raise his half-century off 37 balls, while Sharjeel brought up his own off just 26 deliveries.

With the personal landmarks out of the way, both batsmen continued their nonchalant display of six-hitting as Cooper's second over went for 25 to reduce the target down to 23 off the last eight overs. The lack of sting in the bowling seemed to have had a deflating effect on Lahore Qalandars, even though they managed two wickets as the batsmen fell to big shots.

The ferocity of the hitting was such that Lahore's effort with that bat, which was fuelled byMohammad Rizwan almost went unnoticed. Rizwan, who came in to bat with the scorecard reading 89 for 4 in the 13th over, marshalled the lower order to hit an unbeaten 27-ball 50, including five fours and three sixes. It helped repair the early damage caused by Mohammad Sami and Saeed Ajmal.

The last five overs fetched 58, but any thoughts of 166 being a potentially defendable total were quashed by the belligerence of Watson and Sharjeel as Lahore Qalandars, who were without the services of Chris Gayle because of flu, slumped to the bottom of the table.

Pakistan Super League February 10, 2016 Flower blooms in journey of T20 discovery

The last the world remembers of Andy Flower, he was watching his Rome burn around him. The England team he had transformed from 51 all out in the Caribbean into winners of three successive Ashes series - with a stint as World No.1, a World T20 title and a series win in India thrown in for good measure - were reduced to smouldering ruins by Australia.

In the eyes of many he had morphed into a cartoon villain, the demon headmaster whose strengths had slowly become his weaknesses under the strain of five relentless years in charge.

Where once he had been loyal, now he appeared obstinate, his determination had become belligerence and the respect he had once ruled with appeared to be approaching something closer to fear.

He has, of course, not disappeared off the face of the earth. Within two months of his resignation he was safely ensconced in a new role at the ECB, as 'technical director of elite coaching', but it was out of the limelight - even if taking on the role of England Lions head coach in mid-2014 pushed him a little closer to the glare of the media.

Now though he has a new challenge, as assistant coach of Peshawar Zalmi in the inaugural Pakistan Super League, a first dip of a toe into T20 franchise waters that feels slightly ironic given the friction they have caused the ECB in recent years.

The role, though, seems to be one Flower is relishing, a smile - a sight all too often absent in the latter stages of his England reign - is firmly back on his face. There was even the odd joke, admittedly unlikely to trouble the scorers at the Perrier Awards, but the sign of a man clearly enjoying himself more than the last time he appeared before the media hordes.

So what then of the differences between the international stage and his new job?

"The assistant coach's position is a nice job to have," he said, with a smile, after a fairly long pause for thought. "You don't have some of the other responsibilities that a head coach has and you can develop a different type of relationship with the players, so I've really loved my first few days here."

For Flower too this was an opportunity to shake off the image he had left behind, that of the stony faced captain joylessly steering his ship onto the rocks. When questioned whether his style was at odds with that of Peshawar's maverick captain Shahid Afridi, he offered a wry grin.

"I know him fairly well from playing against him a long time ago," the emphasis on long almost certainly not a deliberate joke about the rumours surrounding his skipper's age, but amusing nonetheless.

"Reputations can sometimes be misleading and the things you read in the press can sometimes be misleading. There's a nice easy atmosphere in the dressing room, so it's a really enjoyable position for me to hold, it's a nice coaching job," he said, adding "thank you" as an afterthought as if pleased to be able to express the sentiment.

This more relaxed edition of Flower seems to be a hit with his players as well. Darren Sammy, a man who could probably look laid-back and cheerful in a warzone - or in the WICB offices for that matter - has clearly benefitted from the input of his coach.

Flower dusted off his trusty old dog-thrower for pre-tournament practice to give the big Saint Lucian a session of throw-downs - interspersed, you imagine, with more than the odd piece of sage advice. Lessons Sammy appeared to have taken onboard three days later when his rearguard innings almost snuck a win after his team's fairly disastrous start.

"He's been great you know," said Sammy after that narrow defeat. "Obviously it's a big change between the roles he's played before but he's been fantastic. He has a good cricket brain and with the success he's had coaching, especially with England, taking them to No.1 he knows a lot about batting, especially in these type of conditions, so I think he's been good. It's a great mix, the guys have gelled really well together, coaches and players."

They say players learn new things playing franchise tournaments, perhaps the same is true for coaches too, with Sammy's natural ebullience rubbing off on Flower - it would certainly appear so given his new-found penchant for smiling.

There has also been a reminder too of the man of real moral character, marked out, on this day 13 years ago, by his black armband protest with Henry Olonga in Zimbabwe, as he deliberately took the time to acknowledge the work his franchise had done in bringing 150 students over from the Army Public School in Peshawar - scene of a horrific terrorist attack in 2014.

"It is nice being involved in a franchise and an owner that have included a cause greater than just winning a tournament."

This, then, appears to be Flower unchained, a man unburdened from the need to win at all costs and the never-ending grind of the international calendar, a man happy it seems to be slowly painting a new picture of himself.