Jason Holder starred on his Pakistan Super League debut as defending champions Islamabad United breezed past Lahore Qalandars on the opening day on Friday, April 11. Holder, who went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction, took four wickets for United as he played a key role in the team's eight-wicket win over Qalandars at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi.

The West Indies pacer displayed his variations extremely well as he posed troubles for the Qalandars batters. He struck as early as on his third ball, when he removed Mohammad Naeem caught-behind in the fifth over and keeping the others in check.

While Holder was off after the sixth over, Shadab Khan and others kept striking at regular intervals to keep the Shaheen Afridi-led side at bay. Abdullah Shafique, however, looked strong during his 38-ball 66-run knock. The right-handed batter was elegant in his strokes and kept ticking the scoreboard, but wickets at the other end made it difficult for the Qalandars to post a strong score.

Shafique had a brief stand of 35 with Sikandar Raza, but that was ended when Shabad got the Zimbabwean. Holder returned to pick three more, including two back-to-back wickets of Jahandad Khan and David Wiese.

United didn't get off to the quick start that they are known for as 38-year-old left-arm spinner Asif Afridi got Andries Gous in the second over. Sahibzada Farhan played with caution during his 24-ball 25 before Colin Munro took the initiative along with Salman Agha. The two put up an 80-run stand for the third wicket as the defending champions romped home without much of an issue in 17.4 overs with eight wickets in hand and started their title defence on a strong note.