30/06/2015
The boys in green came back with a convincing win to beat Predators in a one man show by allrounder Azeem Hameed. Loosing the toss and bowling first, a much more disciplined opening spell from Bilal Fouzi and Irshad Mulla, leaking only 22 in the first 4, laid the foundation for the fury to follow. The fury of the ferocious Azeem. Bowling spells well over 80 mp/h the WSU quickie quickly forced the opposition on the backfoot before sweeping the stage right form underneath their feet. His figures of 2-7 after 4, including 1 maiden, were well backed up by Abdul Muhaimin and the leggie Mohammad Qasim who both claimed a wicket each, the former being much more econimcal. But Qasim wasn't the only spinner who hurt the opposition only to get targeted back, Usman Malik also claimed his prize at a near identical economy rate. The increased pressure from successive wicket loss, proved too much for the Predators resulting in further two runouts, courtesy of some brilliant fielding by Ashir Khan and keeper Shahid Rafique. A much more constructed approach by captain Badar Asif and a decline from more than 50 to 27 sundries further helped restrict Predators to a total of 130/7.
From their, the journey was all but too easy. Until the predators struck only in the second over to remove the danger man Ali Hayder for none more than 7, shifting momentum back into the favor of Predators, for none knew how the WSU batsmen would respond to this. Would history (more like last week) repeat itself? A quick, unanticipated cameo from Bilal Fouzi however, helped sway the momentum back in his side's favour, boosting WSU from 1-9 after 2 overs, to 1-47 after 6 before the Predators claimed his wicket. Umair Raja followed, and in a good old fashioned WSU way, struck a 6 before being falling victim to LBW in a span of no more than 7 balls. Panick struck the dressing room, perhaps this would be another collapse. Maybe last week would repeat itself. The talented quickie Talal however, showed that his batting talent far exceeds just leaving deliveries onto the stumps and showed some class to finish the game off with a humongous SIX over mid-wicket. Scoring 41 off just 29 deliveries, WSU had no one to thank more than the opener Usman Malik who scored his maiden 50 of the season, in just the second game, helping WSU get over the line in a poised fashion. The innings lasted just 17.5 overs with a comfortable 7 wickets in hand.
The only question remains, can the boys continue this disciplined form into the coming big games? Only time will tell .... And did I hear a star performer returning this weekend for WSU? Can you guess who it is?
