Islamabad United Islamabad United ( ur, ) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). It was the inaugural champion of the Pakistan Super League. The team is based in Islamabad, the capital cit ...

in 2016 played in the inaugural season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise based Twenty20 cricket competition held in the United Arab Emirates. The team won the 2016 competition after finishing third in the group stage and qualifying for the play off rounds.

Background

Islamabad United is a franchise cricket team which nominally represents the capital city of Pakistan Islamabad. The team plays in the Pakistan Super League which takes place in the United Arab Emirates – as such the team does not play any matches in Islamabad. The team is owned by Leonine Global Sports, a UAE based company, which bought it for US$15 Million for a 10-year period in 2015.

Team anthem

Anthem for the team "Chakka Choka" was written, composed and sung by Ali Zafar, which was released on 30 January 2016 and its music video was released on 8 February 2016.

Squad

Players with international caps before the start of the 2016 PSL season are listed in bold.Islamabad United all set to take PSL on
Dunya News, 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2016-01-27.

Pakistan Super League

After a poor start to the

2016 Pakistan Super League The 2016 Pakistan Super League (or for sponsorship reasons HBL PSL 2016) was the debut season of the Pakistan Super League which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The tournament featured five teams and was held from 4 February 2016 ...

tournament Islamabad United finished third in the round robin group stage, qualifying for the knock out stage of the tournament. The team won four matches out of eight, finishing with eight points from their group games. They faced fourth placed Karachi Kings in the eliminator, winning by nine wickets thanks to Mohammad Sami's man of the match performance of five wickets for eight runs from four overs. Brad Haddin and

Dwayne Smith Dwayne Romel Smith (born 12 April 1983) is a former Barbadian international cricketer who has represented the West Indies in all three formats of the game. An all-rounder, he is known as an aggressive and powerful right-handed batsman, bowls m ...

each scored fifties as United achieved their target of111 in the 15th over. In the second qualifier match Islamabad met Peshawar Zalmi.

Sharjeel Khan Sharjeel Khan ( ur, شرجیل خان; born 14 August 1989)
cricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2010 is a Paki ...

scored 117 from 62 balls, the first century scored in the Pakistan Super League. It proved to be the difference between the teams as United posted 176 for 3 and Zalmi were bowled out for 126 with two full overs to go. United, spinner

Imran Khalid Imran Khalid (born 29 December 1982) is a Pakistani first-class cricketer who played for Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but w ...

took four wickets for 20 runs and Andre Russell three for 37. The win took United through to the final against

Quetta Gladiators Quetta Gladiators (Urdu, Balochi: ; Pashto: کویټه ګلیډیټرز) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They play most home games at the 27,000-capacity Gaddafi Stadium ...

. The

2016 Pakistan Super League Final The 2016 Pakistan Super League Final was a Twenty20 cricket match played on 23 February 2016, at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai between Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United to determine the winner of the 2016 season of the Pakista ...

was won by Islamabed by six wickets. United opted to bowl first after winning the toss and the Gladiators scored 174–7 in their 20 overs. Andre Russell, who finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker, took three for 37. In reply United started well with

scoring 73 runs and Brad Haddin with an unbeaten 61, allowing United to score 174 for four with eight balls remaining and winning the title alongside Cash Price of $500,000.http://tribune.com.pk/story/1053169/islamabad-crowned-psl-champions/, ""Express Tribune"" 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2016-02-24.

Matches

References

{{Islamabad United 2016 Pakistan Super League United in 2016