Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandar PSL 2024: Man of The Match, Award Winners, Post-Match Presentation

Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandar PSL 2024: Lahore Qalandars defeated Islamabad United by 17 wickets in match number 23 of the Pakistan Super League (2024) at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi on Wednesday, March 6. This was Lahore’s first win of the season.

After opting to bowl first Islamabad did well to restrict Lahore to 162/7 despite a 44-ball 64-run knock from Rassie van der Dussen. David Wiese scored unbeaten 24 runs off 11 balls towards the end. Each of seven bowlers except Agha Salman picked at least a wicket for Islamabad.

In reply, Islamabad United lost five wickets in the powerplay. Azam Khan (29), Faheem Ashraf (41) and Naseem Shah (27) were the only three players who scored over 15 runs for the side. Pacer Zaman Khan (4/37) picked four wickets, while Shaheen Afridi registered two scalps.

Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandar Award Winners

Player Of The Match: Rassie van der Dussen (LQ) 64 off 44 balls

Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandar PSL 2024: Who Said What

Shadab Khan (Islamabad United captain): I think the pitch was pretty good for batting, there were too many soft dismissals from our end. However, I’m pleased with Faheem’s performance, he’s been our man of crisis. We need to improve quite a bit, we need to build partnerships better, specially in the games we have lost. Today, there were a few lapses in the field as well, we need to address those things. Naseem has returned very well after injury, it isn’t easy for players, they tend to take some time but he’s back and firing. I think the pitch improved in the second innings, we just neeeded to build good partnerships. Even after losing 5 in the powerplay, we kept striking them well and if we took the game till the last over, anything could have happened with 16 odd runs needed to win.

Shaheen Afridi (Lahore Qalandars captain): This is a team effort. Our overall cricket was good in the first 5 games, although results weren’t on our side. Such is the nature of T20 cricket. I think the new ball was moving around, so we thought 150-160 would be a good total. We realised if we bowl it on a length then it will be difficult for batters. We are 2 time champions, we play with the pride of Lahore Qalandars. Very proud of the way Tayyab Abbas performed today, the whole objective of our franchise is to unearth talent from all parts of the country and nurture them to play for Pakistan. The full credit for that goes to the scouting team of Lahore Qalandars.

Rassie van der Dussen (Man of the Match): Had a great 3 weeks. Happy to get a win today. This pitch brought the bowlers in the match more, we had to apply ourselves more. The message to the guys was to get used to the conditions because once you’re in, you can catch up with short boundaries and fast outfields. The idea wasn’t to attack particular bowlers, but to attack certain lengths. Anything on a length and short was difficult to hit on this wicket, so I was waiting for the bowlers to pitch it fuller. The chat with the other batters was to be really clear with our plans, commit to it.