Sports Desk
KARACHI: Fakhar Zaman and bowlers joined hands to help Lahore Qalandars defeat Peshawar Zalmi by 29 runs in match number nine to push their team to the second spot in the ongoing Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) points table.
The Qalandars had set a 200-run target for Peshawar after Wahab Riaz opted to bowl first against Lahore.
Early in the Peshawar innings, Lahore skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi set the tone for his team by dismissing Zalmi opener Hazratullah Zazai for zero in the third ball of the innings.
The loss of the early wicket put Zalmi on the backfoot and regular wickets by Lahore never allowed Peshawar to take control of the game.
For Zalmi, Kamran Akmal and Haidar Ali made 41 and 49 runs, respectively, but the team was unable to catch up to the high required run rate.
Zaman Khan took three wickets for Lahore, while skipper Shaheen and David Weise took two wickets each. Rashid Khan took a wicket as well.
Zalmi ended their 20 overs with 170-9 helping Lahore register a 29-run victory. Peshawar would have been all out in the last over had David Weise’s hattrick wicket not overturned by the review.
Earlier, Lahore openers Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique set the tone for Qalandars’ batting as they took the Peshawar Zalmi bowlers to the cleaners.
Fakhar made his third successive fifty-plus scores by reaching his half-century in the 10th over. However, in the same over, Usman Qadir dismissed Shafique for 41 runs to break the opening stand.
Fakhar continued his attack on the Zalmi bowlers before being dismissed by Hussain Talat in the 13th over for 66. By the time the left-hander was dismissed he had given the platform to his team to set up a huge target for Peshawar.
In the next few overs, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hafeez, and Rashid Khan’s cameo propelled Lahore to end their innings at 199-4.
For Peshawar, Salman Irshad took two wickets while Usman Qadir and Hussain Talat picked one each.
Playing XI
Peshawar Zalmi:
Kamran Akmal (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali, Hussain Talat, Shoaib Malik, SE Rutherford, BCJ Cutting, Wahab Riaz (C), Arish Ali, Usman Qadir, Salman Irshad
Lahore Qalandars:
Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hafeez, Zeeshan Ashraf (WK), D Foxcroft, D Wiese, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi (C), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
