LAHORE: The HBL Pakistan Super League 4 has it all, from high dramalast-ball sixes to narrow wins and from hat-trick to rattling of stumps andbrilliant catches.
The excitement is reaching at acme after all six teams completed fivematches each in the first phase of the Twenty20 league which completed inSharjah on Sunday, said the international made available here on Monday.
Quetta Gladiators, living up to its reputation of fighters, are ruling thetable with eight point and it needed an extra-ordinary innings from ColinIngram to stop the juggernauts.
Ingram hit the highest-ever individual score to date of 127 off just 59balls, spiced up with eight sixes and 12 boundaries to lit up thetournament big time.
The first phase had also livened up with two exciting last-ball finishes.Lahore Qalandars outlasting Multan Sultans on Friday with a six by formerSouth Africa all-rounder David Wiese.
Very next day Wiese was at the receiving end, conceding a last-ball six toQuetta and Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Throughout the first phase, the Gladiators have proved to be a balancedside. They have set plans under an astute coach in Moin Khan and livelycaptain in Sarfaraz – bowl first, restrict the opponents and then chasewith authority whatever comes their way.
Quetta’s top-order comprising three former players of their countries —Australia’s Shane Watson, South Africa’s Rilee Rossuw and Pakistan’s UmarAkmal — were on fire in most of the matches.
Both Watson and Umar have hit two half-centuries to enable Quetta win bysix, seven and eight wickets respectively.
Umar is at the top of most runs chart with 200, followed by Watson on 186.Rossouw has 157 with one fifty and that defines how good Quetta’s battingis.
One-time winners Peshawar Zalmi are second on the chart, primarily due totheir fast bowling strength.
Zalmi’s Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali has so far stood out, taking wickets inhis first over in three matches to jolt the best of batting. Hasan hasthree four-fors in five games which has fetched him 15 wickets and firstplace in bowlers’ list.
Wahab Riaz, Sameen Gul and Umaid Asif further give firepower to Zalmi’sbowling, while England’s left-arm spinner Liam Dawson is an asset as he canalso smash the ball to all corner while batting.
Zalmi, though, are waiting for dashing opener Kamran Akmal, who only hasone score of 49 to show in HBL PSL 4.
Islamabad United, third on the table, again had mixed fortunes. Thedefending champions started the tournament with a thumping five-wicket winagainst Lahore Qalandars. But, they then lost to Multan Sultans and Quettain their next two games as batting let them down.
It needed a patient half-century from Ian Bell and a hat-trick by skipperMohammad Sami to revive Islamabad’s fortunes as they thumped Peshawar by 12runs to return to winning ways. Luke Ronchi then smashed a fieryhalf-century to help Islamabad beat Karachi in their last game.Islamabad will next meet Multan in Dubai on Tuesday.
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Multan are badly in need of a victory as they are lying in sixth and lastplace, so the title holders can expect a backlash from their opponents.
Lahore Qalandars are on fourth after some mixed fortunes. They lost theopening game to Islamabad but did not take long to register a win – thattoo against old rivals Karachi.
Lahore’s newest pace sensation Haris Rauf grabbed four wickets while RahatAli (three) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (two wickets) were equally destructive.
Lahore found Peshawar bowling too hot to handle as Hasan (four for 15),Wahab (three for 17) and leg-spinner Ibtisam Sheikh (two for 14) wreckedthem for a low total of 78. De Villiers and Wiese brought them back ontrack against Multan before Sarfaraz snatched a last-ball six to leaveLahore with four points in five games.
Karachi finally fired and returned to the old winning ways with that Ingrammasterclass.
They won their first game by a narrow seven-run margin against Multan withhalf-centuries from Liam Livingstone and Babar Azam, but in their nextthree matches, they failed to score a single fifty.
Their pace attack comprising of Mohammad Amir, Usman Shinwari and SohailKhan had failed – all taking wickets but containing runs. Amir recorded hisbest HBL PSL figures of four for 25, but has since taken just threewickets. Sohail has been a major flop while Usman too was wayward andexpensive.
Lastly, despite having big names in Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and AndreRussell, Multan Sultan have been unimpressive. Other than Malik and oneinnings from Vince, Multan’s batting has left a lot to be desired and sohas their bowling.
The first phase of HBL PSL has once again thrown some exciting talent.
Islamabad’s Mohammad Musa and Multan’s Ali Shafiq have impressed with theirwicket-taking abilities. Musa took three for 25 on his HBL PSL debut toannounce his arrival and was again threatening against Karachi with figuresof one for 28.
Shafiq was man of the match on his debut against Islamabad with two for 11in his four overs.
The rise of Karachi Kings’ left-arm spinner Umer Khan is a story in itselfas he graduated from Under-19 to HBL PSL from a humble background. Umerpicked up two wickets against Lahore, including the prized wicket of AB deVilliers.
Pakistan regular in Tests and ODIs, Imam-ul-Haq, has also made his presencefelt in the HBL PSL with two half-centuries.
