LAHORE: It was Harry Brook’s night at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday. The English youngster brilliantly demonstrated his talent in smashing the second-fastest century in the HBL Pakistan Super League history against a hapless Islamabad United who were simply crushed by Lahore Qalandars.

Coming in to bat at number five with Lahore Qalandars tottering at 12-3 in the third over after electing to bat first, right-handed Brook joined in-form opener Fakhar Zaman to change the entire scenario. Their right-left combination produced an invaluable 101 runs for the fourth wicket in mere 10.2 overs as Lahore looked set to post a huge total.

The 22-year-old Brook raced to the unbeaten century, his first in T20s at any level, off mere 49 balls, belting 10 fours and five sixes in a superb batting display that earned him the man-of-the-match award.

Multan Sultans’ South African batter Rilee Rossouw (44 balls) scored the fastest century in HBL PSL history against Quetta Gladiators in Multan during the 2020 edition.

A usually belligerent Fakhar tactfully took a back seat crafting a 41-ball 51, featuring four fours and a six. While Fakhar departed at 113 at the end of the 13th over, the Yorkshire-born Brook continued his fireworks. David Wiese (17 off 12 balls) added 54 runs with Brook in 27 balls for the sixth wicket, making sure Lahore reach a sizeable 197-6.

Except for pacer Faheem Ashraf (3-28 off four overs) and left-arm orthodox spinner Liam Dawson (1-21 off three), all Islamabad bowlers proved expensive.

In their reply, Islamabad were never in the hunt and kept losing wickets at regular intervals amid mounting required run-rate. Though Dawson (31 off 26) and Danish Aziz (30 not out off 26) tried their best, their efforts proved way too insufficient as Islamabad ended their innings at 131-9 off the stipulated 20 overs.

Pacers, including skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zaman Khan and Haris Rauf, and leg-spin sensation Rashid Khan took two wickets apiece for Lahore.

The 66-run win consolidated second-placed Lahore with 12 points in nine matches, while Islamabad remain at fourth with eight points in nine games.

Scoreboard

LAHORE QALANDARS:

Fakhar Zaman c Faheem b Zahir51
Phil Salt b Faheem2
Kamran Ghulam lbw b Faheem0
Mohammad Hafeez run out2
Harry Brook not out102
Sohail Akhtar st Azam b Dawson15
David Wiese c Gurbaz b Faheem17

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-3)8
TOTAL (for six wickets, 20 overs)197
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6 (Salt), 2-6 (Ghulam), 3-12 (Hafeez), 4-113 (Fakhar), 5-143 (Akhtar), 6-197 (Wiese)BOWLING: Mubasir 1-0-6-0; Faheem 4-0-28-3; Waqas 4-0-45-0 (2w); Wasim 2-0-39-0; Zahir 4-0-32-1 (1w); De Lange 2-0-21-0; Dawson 3-0-21-1

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz c Fakhar b Shaheen20
Mubasir Khan b Shaheen6
Mohammad Wasim lbw b Rashid12
Liam Dawson c Brook b Zaman31
Azam Khan st Salt b Rashid10
Danish Aziz not out30
Asif Ali c Wiese b Zaman12
Faheem Ashraf lbw b Haris2
Merchant de Lange c Shaheen b Haris2
Waqas Maqsood c Zaman b Wiese1
Zahir Khan not out0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-4)5
TOTAL (for nine wickets, 20 overs)131
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-27 (Gurbaz), 2-27 (Mubasir), 3-59 (Wasim), 4-78 (Azam), 5-85 (Dawson), 6-100 (Asif), 7-113 (Faheem), 8-123 (De Lange), 9-131 (Waqas)

BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-28-2; Zaman 4-0-32-2 (2w); Haris 4-0-33-2 (1w); Rashid 4-0-19-2; Ghulam 2-0-9-0 (1w); Hafeez 1-0-6-0; Wiese 1-0-3-1

RESULT: Lahore Qalandars won by 66 runs.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Harry Brook

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022