LAHORE: Experienced all-rounder Shoaib Malik led his team, Peshawar Zalmi, to a Super Over victory against Lahore Qalandars in the last match of the seventh edition of Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) league stage at the Gaddafi Stadium.
The Zalmi had set a 159-run target for the Qalandars, who fell a run short and forced the match to a Super Over after Shaheen Shah Afridi smashed 22 runs — three sixes and a four — in the last over.
But it wasn’t enough, as when the Qalandars batted in the Super Over, they handed a six-run target to the Zalmi, courtesy of skipper Wahab Riaz’s sensational bowling.
When it was Zalmi’s turn to bat, they sent in their experienced all-rounder, Malik. And he proved to be the right man for the right job, as he smashed two fours to Qalandars’ skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi and sailed his team to victory.
Qalandars’ batting line-up had failed to deliver against the Yellow Storm. Fakhar Zaman went out for a golden duck in the first ball of the match.
Mohammad Hafeez was the only Qalandars’ batter who performed with the bat as he scored 49 runs in 44 balls.
After a failed batting line-up, skipper Shaheen Afridi took charge and played a brilliant knock against Zalmi to take the match to Super Over.
The same was the case with the Zalmi’s batting line-up, as it had failed to deliver against an in-form Qalandars.
Opener’s Mohammad Harris and Hazratullah Zazai, who were expected to give the Zalmi a flying start, failed against the world-class bowling of Qalandars.
Spinner Fawad Ahmed took two important wickets of Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik. The right-arm spinner gave away only 26 runs in four overs.
Shoaib Malik was the top scorer for Peshawar Zalmi as he scored 32 runs in 28 balls. -Agencies
