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Elliott, Roy stars as Lahore Qalandars open their account in PSL

by Sandeep Shivam Sunday 12 February 2017

Jason Roy scored an unbeaten 60 in the chase

©REUTERS

Lahore Qalandars 160-4 (Roy 60no) beat
Islamabad United 158-7 (Misbah 61no) by six wickets
Fourth match, Pakistan Super League, Dubai

Jason Roy scored an unbeaten 60 while Grant Elliott contributed with a four-wicket haul as Lahore Qalandars registered a six-wicket win against Islamabad United in the fourth match of Pakistan Super League in Dubai.

Lahore Qalandars won the toss and opted to field first. Openers Dwayne Smith (31) and Sam Billings (37) got Islamabad off to a brisk opening start of 73 runs from 55 deliveries.

However, Elliott (4-23) dented their momentum completely as he removed Smith, Billings, Brad Haddin (9) and Shane Watson (7) in his first three overs and had Islamabad restricted to 115 for four in 16 overs.

Despite, wickets falling at other end, Misbah-ul-Haq (61 not out), who was consolidating early on took charge and reached a 30-ball fifty as Islamabad posted 158 for seven in the 20 overs.

In the chase, Brendon McCullum (25) smashed three boundaries and a six in the first over to get things going and by the end of two overs, Lahore Qalandars were placed 26 for naught with Roy (60 not out) too picking up at the other end.

Rumman Raees (1-19) provided the initial breakthrough when he got the better of McCullum in the third over and in the next over, Mohammad Sami (1-25) had Fakhar Zaman (5) caught and bowled.

Just when things looked dicey for Lahore, Roy had the support of Umar Akmal (35) as they added 71 runs to put the chase back on course.

As they were cruising for a win, Watson (1-40) had Akmal caught at deep midwicket while Saeed Ajmal (1-33) dismissed Elliott (3) cheaply. Lahore needed 31 runs from the final four overs.

Sunil Narine (26 not out) played a brilliant 12-ball cameo while Roy too completed his fifty as the pair took Lahore home by six wickets in hand in the ninth over to get their first win of the tournament. Roy was adjudged the player of the match for batting all the way through with an unbeaten 60.