Abu Dahbi
Peshawar Zalmi on Tuesday night successfully chased the 175-run target set by Islamabad United, beating them by 8 wickets to reach the final of the Pakistan Super League’s sixth edition, courtesy of the impressive batting by Hazratullah Zazai (66) and Jono Wells (55).
The Zalmi — who have reached the final for the fourth time — will now face Multan Sultans on June 24 at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Zalmi put the United to bat first, who scored 174 for the loss of nine wickets and set a 175-run target for the Wahab Riaz-led side.
Hasan Ali’s start with the ball was not as effective as his batting in the first innings — where he hit 45 off 16 balls. The pacer gave away a total of 15 runs, including six extras, in the first over.
However, he wrapped it up on a positive note by dismissing Kamran Akmal (8) in the last ball.
Mohammad Wasim was finally able to give a breakthrough to the United as he dismissed Zazai (66) in the 15th over, breaking the 126-run partnership between the Afghan batter and Wells (55).
Shoaib Malik (32), who came to the crease after Zazai was dismissed, hit three consecutive fours in the 17th over to end the match on a high and take his team to the finals.
Earlier, Islamabad United handed a 175-run target to the Peshawar Zalmi. Usman Khawaja went for a duck, Colin Munro scored 44, Muhammad Akhlaq 7, Brandon King 18, Iftikhar Ahmed 10, Shadab Khan 15, Asif Ali 8, Faheem Ashraf 1, Hasan Ali 45, and Mohammad Wasim remained not out for 17 not out.
Skipper Riaz and Umaid Asif got two wickets each, while Amad Butt, Mohammad Irfan, and Mohammad Imran were able to pick up one wicket each.
Shoaib Malik’s delivery in the first over to Colin Munro saw in the unfortunate dismissal of Khawaja (0) who was run out when the batsman smashed it down to Malik and the veteran all-rounder’s shoelace touched the ball and hit the non-striker’s end, helping his team get the first, and important breakthrough.
In the second over, pacer Imran had Akhlaq (7) caught behind, as the batsman attempted to hit it over fine leg, giving wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal an easy catch.
To end the powerplay in style, Munro (44), in the sixth over, hit 19 runs — three fours, one six, and a run — to Asif to bring his team back in the game and shift the pressure back on to Zalmi.
In the eighth over, Malik dropped the catch of Brandon King, but Butt did not give up and dismissed the West Indies batsman for 18 in the last ball of the over, with a comfortable catch by Asif.—Agencies
