Mixed fortunes for English contingent with Hales and Patel two of the players to shine
Thursday 19 March 2020 15:22, UK
The best bowling figures in this season's Pakistan Super League belonged to an Englishman.
Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel picked up superb figures of 4-5 for Lahore Qalandars against Quetta Gladiators earlier this month, with fellow Englishman, Jason Roy, one of his scalps.
Patel and Roy were among 14 English players to compete in the tournament, before it was postponed ahead of the semi-finals due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Here we look at how they each performed…
PATEL helped the Lahore franchise into the semi-finals for the first time in their history. The spinner's 4-5, in which he picked up three wickets in an over, saw his side to a thumping win over Quetta - after his 40-ball 71 a few days earlier earned victory over the same team. Patel wasn't required much with the bat after that, ending the tournament with 137 runs in six innings, but remained economical with the ball, claiming nine wickets at 20.44.
Patel's wicket haul was matched by seamer CHRIS JORDAN, whose nine scalps for Karachi Kings came at an average of a lick over 30. The Sussex man picked up two wickets in a match on three occasions, including on his debut against Peshawar Zalmi when he accounted for Tom Banton, as Kings also made it through to the last four of the competition.
Kings' kingpins batting wise were Babar Azam - the top-run scorer in the tournament with 345 in 10 games - and ALEX HALES, with the latter slamming two half-centuries in five innings, averaging a shade under 60.
The batsman's top knock was an unbeaten 80 from 48 balls against Lahore but he also struck a rapid 52 against Islamabad United and made a number of other starts en route to totalling 239 runs across the tournament as he built on his electric Big Bash League form for Sydney Thunder.
ROY dazzled in patches for Quetta, notably with a score of 73 not out from 57 balls against Zalmi, as he managed 233 runs in seven games at 33. A second fifty came against Islamabad, when one of his opponents was DAWID MALAN.
Malan scored just 10 in that fixture but carted 64 in the reverse fixture in a game in which Roy was out for duck. Malan's numbers read 131 runs in four innings at 43.66, while fellow Englishman PHIL SALT, struck 25 in his sole innings for Islamabad.
Zalmi had the highest number of English players - LIAM LIVINGSTONE, LEWIS GREGORY, LIAM DAWSON and TOM BANTON turning out for the franchise.
Somerset all-rounder Gregory took four wickets on debut and despite going wicketless in three further games, he played some decent middle-order cameos with the bat. Taunton team-mate Banton, though, struggled, with two ducks, a highest score of 34 from seven innings and an average of 12 not doing justice to his extreme talent.
Lancashire man Livingstone started with a bang, spanking a 29-ball 54 against Karachi but only made 54 runs across his next six innings, while spinning all-rounder Dawson played just four times, failing to take a wicket in the five overs he was given and not passing 22 in his four innings.
Table toppers Multan Sultans had three Englishmen on their books in MOEEN ALI, JAMES VINCE and RAVI BOPARA. Vince's sublime 61 not out from 24 balls in a rain-reduced game against Islamabad secured Sultans a semi-final place and he managed 155 runs at 38.75 across his five innings.
Moeen did not really sparkle - 138 runs in nine innings at 17.25 and five wickets in nine games - but he did play one superb knock, with a 42-ball 65 teeing up a win over Karachi. Bopara played just the four games, finally passing double figures in his final innings, and only bowling once.
Finally, TYMAL MILLS teamed with Roy at Quetta. The left-arm speedster only got four outings but still took five wickets, including two-wicket hauls against Islamabad and Karachi.
In the latter game, one of his victims was Jordan, so that will be something the two can chat about at Sussex when the 2020 county season finally gets under way.
