1. Prior to today’s game Islamabad United won the toss 23 times and every time they won the toss they elected to chase. They were up until this point the only side to have chased every time they won the toss, today when they won the toss they decided to bat first.
Their decision to bat first was a departure from what they like doing which is chasing, the side has won 24 of their 30 games when they have chased that’s a win% of 80%.
The decision to bat first was done keeping in mind that as the sun sets in Abu Dhabi there is more swing on offer for the pacers than in the dryer conditions which were in place at the start of the game.
2. After scoring the most runs in the powerplay in the history of PSL, Islamabad were 20/4 in the powerplay in what was their lowest score in the powerplay.
Some top notch bowling from Shaheen Afridi and James Faulkner pegged Islamabad back, the batsmen were unable to rotate strike or able to play their shots given the swing the bowlers were extracting from the surface.
Shadab at the presser said that he did not regret the decision to bat first after winning the toss, suggesting that if this same scenario came up again he would have batted first.
3. 20/5 with just 37 balls done in the innings, if there is a bad start that is one. Most sides are going to lose the match from this situation, in fact 8.3% of the sides in this situation end up on the winning side.
Asif Ali walked into this situation, he walked out with Islamabad 143 on the board in the 19th over of the innings. Asif Ali along with Ifthikar Ahmed managed to drag Islamabad from this dire situation to one where they had a 50% chance of winning the match.
Now both the batsmen could have taken their time, but Asif Ali decided that he is the man who is the designated big hitter of this side and he is the one who should be the one playing knocks which changes the fortunes for his side. Asif did exactly that, scoring 75 runs in 43 balls at 10.46 runs per over, but this wasn’t blind slogging, this was a very calculated innings in which Asif Ali played the big shots against the weaker link which was Ahmed Daniyal scoring 29 runs in 13 balls at 13.4 runs per over, while scoring 46 runs in 30 balls against the remaining LQ bowlers.
Asif’s role in the side is to change the game in a space of few balls, today he had 43 balls and he did change the game for Islamabad United, from 8.3% chance of winning to a 50% chance of winning.
4. Rashid Khan has bowled 20 overs this season, he has been impossible to score runs against, before today’s game in his 16 overs, he conceded 73 runs and picked up 7 wickets, that’s a wicket every 13.7 balls and 4.56 runs per over.
In today’s game he went for 36 runs and picked 0 wickets with Asif Ali being particularly brutal against him scoring 22 runs in 14 balls at 9.42 runs per over. It’s not often that Rashid has bad days, but given the situation Islamabad United were in when he began his spell, the side should be glad that his bad day had to come today.
5. 86/2 at the end of 10 overs with 67 runs needed in the remaining 10 overs. It’s safe to say that it wasn’t the ideal first half for Islamabad United, they did not get those early wickets, nor did they manage to put a lid on the scoring rate. Lahore were running away with the game.
So with 60 balls to go, Shadab goes to the middle overs enforcer Musa Khan. The middle over enforcer is a pace bowler who comes in and bowls pace in a period of the innings when batsmen are expecting spinners, the pace on the ball makes batting a tad bit tougher specially when the bowler is bowling short at you. Musa Khan is Islamabad’’s middle over enforcer and he came in with not much left to defend, 2 overs in he picked 3 wickets — Hafeez, Dunk and Zaman — to sneak Islamabad United back into the game and all this after conceding only 6 runs.
Those 3 wickets were what kickstarted a collapse which saw Lahore Qalandars lose 7 wickets for just 14 runs. As Islamabad continued to pile on the pressure with economical bowling and wickets to just blindside Lahore Qalandars.
6. Let’s get this right, 20/5 or the opposition need 67 runs in 10 overs. There is no way you should be winning such games.
At 20/5 after 37 balls, the batting side wins the match just 8.7% of the time. When you have to defend 67 runs in 60 balls, your chances of winning are just 14.3%.
The fact that Islamabad United managed to turn around and win the game from two losing scenarios is a testament that the game is not done and dusted till the final ball.
In the first innings, it was Asif & Iftikhar who combined to score 123 runs and get Islamabad to a total they could defend. In the second innings, it was Musa, Shadab & Fawad Ahmed who were economical and picked wickets at regular intervals to win them the match which realistically they had no business winning. It’s belief in your process and ability that you can still win games from dire situations and it was this belief that paid off for Islamabad United.