Hales, Stirling star as Islamabad United begin with a bang

Sherfane Rutherford's phenomenal salvage act went to no end as Islamabad United opened their mission in PSL 2022 with a pounding win on Sunday (January 30).

Rutherford came into bat at a tough spot as Peshawar Zalmi lost four wickets with only 35 sudden spikes in demand for the board. Faheem Ashraf struck two times while Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan contributed with a wicket each to disable Peshawar early. Be that as it may, Rutherford then, at that point, worked together with veteran Shoaib Malik to save his side.

The two hitters added 73 for the fifth wicket to lift their side in the clear before Malik fell at a urgent point. Rutherford anyway proceeded with his charge and stayed unbeaten until the end. Ben Cutting contributed with a valuable appearance yet it was Rutherford's unbeaten 70 that directed Peshawar near the 170-mark, which far-fetched took a gander at the beginning.

Islamalabad accordingly, had an exceptionally differentiating start as Paul Striling and Alex Hales went crazy. While Hales went on a limit binge, Stirling cleared the ropes threefold en route to an appealing 50 years. Just a run out finished the century stand yet Islamabad had as of now set themselves in a solid situation to finish off the success.

Hales and Rahmanullah Gurbaz gave Peshawar no opening at all and finished the pursuit with 25 balls in excess. Hales stayed unbeaten on 82 though Gurbaz completed on an unbeaten.

Brief scores: Peshawar Zalmi168/6 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 70*, Ben Cutting 26; Faheem Ashraf 2-23) lost to Islamabad United 172/1 in 15.5 overs (Alex Hales 82*, Paul Stirling 57) by 9 wickets