PSL 2021: WATCH – Rashid Khan’s heroics guide Lahore Qalandars to victory over Islamabad United

After the long wait, finally, the remainder of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 resumed on Wednesday (June 09) when Lahore Qalandars faced Islamabad United at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Afghanistan mainstay Rashid Khan was the star of the night as he produced a phenomenal all-round performance to take Qalandars to a nail-biting victory over Islamabad. The leg-spinner first displayed top-class bowling and picked up a wicket while conceding only nine runs in his quota of 4 overs.

After the sensational bowling display, Rashid played a crucial role with the willow smashing 15 runs off the five balls in the final over of Qalandar’s chase to record a tremendous victory. The 22-year-old slammed three boundaries, one couple and a single, to score 15 runs as his team eventually registered a win.

Here is the video:

Relive @rashidkhan_19’s fireworks for @lahoreqalandars as he snatched victory away from @IsbUnited at the end!#HBLPSL6 | #MatchDikhao | #LQvIU pic.twitter.com/fvFOvJpiZv

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) June 9, 2021

Mindset was not to play big shots but find gaps: Rashid

Islamabad posted 143/9 on the scoreboard in their allotted 20 overs, with Faheem Ashraf scoring the maximum 27 runs. Qalandars’ pacer James Faulkner was the pick of the bowlers, bagging as many as three wickets for 32 runs in his quota of 4 overs.

Chasing the target, Qalandars reached a stage where they needed 16 runs off the final over with Rashid on strike. The Nangarhar-lad scored 15 off the first five balls, while the remaining run was scored by Tim David (23).

After the match, Rashid revealed that hitting big shots wasn’t on his mind and he just tried to find the gaps to take his side over the finish line.

“The plan that I went to the crease with my mindset was, I am not going to play big shots here because if I did that, I could’ve gotten out. So when I got there, I thought I’ll just try and find some gaps here. The bowler was new also. So if he bowled in my areas, my thinking was just to try and hit gaps,” said Rashid at the post-match presentation.