Minhas stars in Islamabad United’s facile win

Minhas stars in Islamabad United's facile win

Sameer Minhas scored his second consecutive fifty as Islamabad United comfortably defeated Rawalpindiz by seven wickets in Lahore. Chasing 157, United reached the target with 34 balls to spare, moving up to second place in the table.

Rawalpindiz, batting first, lost both openers early in the Powerplay to Richard Gleeson. Kamran Ghulam provided stability with a 39-ball 50, but the innings lost momentum after Daryl Mitchell's dismissal, collapsing from a promising position. Dian Forrester's late cameo of 44 not out off 19 balls pushed the total to 156/7, which appeared below par on a good batting surface.

Islamabad's chase was anchored by Minhas, who smashed 70 off 36 balls, including a 25-ball fifty. He dominated the opening partnership while Devon Conway struggled at the other end. By the time Minhas was dismissed in the ninth over, the required rate had dropped to a run a ball, making the result a formality. Haider Ali (26* off 16) and Mark Chapman (24* off 7) finished the match quickly, adding 45 runs in just 17 balls to seal victory in 14.2 overs.

Brief scores:
Rawalpindiz 156/7 in 20 overs (Kamran Ghulam 50, Dian Forrester 44*; Richard Gleeson 2-21, Faheem Ashraf 2-22, Salman Irshad 2-52) lost to Islamabad United 157/3 in 14.2 overs (Sameer Minhas 70, Haider Ali 26*, Mark Chapman 24*) by 7 wickets.