SHARJAH - Lahore Qalandars clinched victory in a nail-biting thriller against Islamabad United and won by one wicket. Umar Akmal's stand at the crease made the victory possible after Qalandars lost early wickets in the 14th fixture of the Pakistan Super League.

Grant Elliott finished the match in style after hitting a six on a ball by Mohammad Sami, dropped the bat like a metaphorical mic and walked off the crease.

Qalandars were in sight of victory after stabilising their innings with a damaging knock by Umar Akmal against Islamabad United. Akmal made a quickfire 66 off 42 balls but finally succumbed to a leg before on a ball by Shadab Khan. His knock insured that Qalandars recovered from their early losses.

Qalandars were struggling against disciplined bowling by United, losing their top order chasing the target which seemed to be a daunting task after only making 29 runs during the powerplay.

Umar Akmal stood his ground on the crease making 32, but was disappointed by other batsmen who joined him. With the run-rate increasing with every over, Qalandars were looking to steady the innings and keep the scoreboard ticking.

Disciplined bowling by United forced Delport and McCullum to play false shots as both depart after scoring 12 and 11. In-form Fakhar Zaman also fell in the very next over of the powerplay. Trying to accelerate, Muhammad Rizwan lost his wicket to Shane Watson in the 10th over.

Sent up the order, Muhammad Irfan (Jr) failed to impress and got run out without troubling the scorers.

Sent into bat, Islamabad United all-rounder Shadab Khan helped his side post 146-run target for the opponents after when he arrived along with another youngster Amad Butt at the crease.

They added 53 quick runs for the seventh wicket. Shadab smashed a 24-ball 42 with three sixes and two fours while Amad scored 17.

Earlier, Rafatullah Mohmand, Brad Haddin, Ben Duckett, Misbahul Haq and Shane Watson could not even cross the 20-run mark. However, Misbah was unlucky as he was given caught behind off Aamer Yamin while replays showed no edge.

For Qalandars, Yamin picked up three wickets while Yasir Shah got two. Sunil Narine and Sohail Tanvir also chipped in with one wicket.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD UNITED:
D Smith lbw b Yasir 20
Rafatullah Mohmand c Rizwan b Yamin 18
B Haddin b Yamin 1
B Duckett b Yasir 14
Misbah-ul-Haq c Rizwan b Yamin 16
S Watson lbw b Narine 7
Shadab Khan run out 42
Amad Butt c McCullum b Tanvir 17
M Sami not out 1
EXTRAS: (lb6, w3) 9
TOTAL: (8 wkts; 20 overs) 145
FOW: 1-32, 2-37, 3-41, 4-73, 5-79, 6-83, 7-136, 8-145
BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 4-0-36-1, Aamer Yamin 4-0-17-3, S Narine 4-0-20-1, Yasir Shah 4-0-27-2, M Irfan 3-0-27-0, G Elliott 1-0-12-0
LAHORE QALANDARS:
C Delport c Shadab b Irfan 12
B McCullum c Misbah b Rumman 11
Fakhar Zaman lbw b Shadab 6
Umar Akmal lbw b Shadab 66
M Rizwan b Watson 3
M Irfan run out 0
G Elliott not out 26
S Narine lbw b Rumman 12
Sohail Tanvir c Smith b Rumman 1
Aamer Yamin c Smith b Sami 0
Yasir Shah not out 0
EXTRAS: (b4, nb5) 9
TOTAL: (9 wkts; 19.2 overs) 146
FOW: 1-27, 2-29, 3-35, 4-54, 5-69, 6-110, 7-134, 8-140, 9-140
BOWLING: M Irfan 4-0-22-1, M Sami 3.2-0-26-1, Rumman Raees 4-0-26-3, Shadab Khan 4-0-28-2, S Watson 3-0-25-1, Amad Butt 1-0-15-0
TOSS: Lahore Qalandars
UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab, Ahsan Raza
TV UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz
MATCH REFEREE:R Mahanama (SL)