— Azam Khan misses fastest PSL century record by three runs
KARACHI: Wicketkeeper batter Azam Khan smashed Quetta Gladiators’ bowlers off the park in his quickfire 97-run-inning to lead Islamabad United to 63-run win over Quetta Gladiators in the 13th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.
Assigned to chase a whopping 221, the Gladiators only managed to score 157 before being bowled out in the penultimate over following a fleeting exchange of blows by Mohammad Hafeez.
The Gladiators had a poor start to their pursuit as the side lost three wickets for a mere 26 runs in the fourth over with all their top-three batters falling cheaply.
Following the slump, Hafeez alongside skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed looked to anchor the run chase with a crucial 69-run partnership for the third wicket and kept the Gladiators in the hunt.
Left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi rocked Gladiators’ march in the 11th over when he dismissed Hafeez off a full-toss. Hafeez scored a quick 48 off 26 deliveries, hitting six boundaries and two sixes.
Earlier, opting to bat first, the United posted a massive 220/6 at the back of an astounding 97-run knock by Azam despite a dismal start. The United got off to an unlikely start as the side was four down for 71 runs inside 10 overs before Azam turned things around with his belligerent hitting.
Azam and Asif Ali formed a game-changing partnership with the team at 77/4 after the first 10 overs, and they then launched a counterattack on the Gladiators’ bowlers.
In just 45 deliveries, the partnership quickly added 98 runs, with Azam serving as the primary driver of the game-changing spell.
Asif, who had scored 42 off just 24 deliveries with the help of a boundary and four sixes, was ultimately bowled by Naseem in the 18th over to end the partnership.
Mohammad Hasnain and Odean Smith bagged two wickets each for the Gladiators while Naseem and Aimal Khan struck out a batter each.
Azam Khan almost created history on Friday in HBL PSL as he missed the record for the fastest century in the tournament’s history by just three runs against Quetta Gladiators.
The hard-hitting batsman played a blazing knock of 97 runs from 42 balls, which included nine fours and eight sixes.
The 24-year-old was on 97 having faced 41 balls, with one ball remaining in United’s innings. However, attempting to go for the slog, he was bowled by Odean Smith.
With United reeling at 43-3, Azam came onto bat and finished his innings at an astonishing strike rate of 230.95.
The record for the fastest century is currently held by Multan Sultans top-order batsman, Rilee Rossouw.
Interestingly, Rossouw also played his record-breaking inning against Gladiators in PSL 2020.
Azam Khan was on 25 off 20 balls before hitting his first six of the innings. He went onto score the next 72 runs in just 21 balls at a strike rate of 343.
Shahid Afridi heaped praise on Azam’s blistering knock and termed it a ‘boom boom innings’.
After the victory, United’s points on the points table increased from four to six, securing their place at the second spot on the points table, after Multan Sultan.
Playing XIs:
Quetta Gladiators: Martin Guptill, Jason Roy, Will Smeed, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hafeez, Odean Smith, Iftikhar Ahmed, Aimal Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
Islamabad United: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Colin Munro, Rassie van der Dussen, Shadab Khan (c), Azam Khan (wk), Asif Ali, Mubasir Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Hasan Ali.
