Zalmi Beats Qalandars in Lahore
LAHORE: Peshawar Zalmi secured a dominant seven-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars in the 14th match of PSL 10 at Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, thanks to a brilliant bowling effort led by Alzarri Joseph, and solid fifties from Babar Azam and Hussain Talat.
Chasing a target of 130, Zalmi cruised to victory with 20 balls to spare and just three wickets down.
The chase didn’t start smoothly, as Zalmi lost openers Saim Ayub (2) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (0) early, with just seven runs on the board in two overs. Mohammad Haris then joined Babar Azam and tried to shift the momentum with a quick 33-run stand in just 21 balls. Haris scored 20 off 16 deliveries, hitting two fours and two sixes before falling to a clever slower ball from Shaheen Afridi.
After his departure, Babar Azam and Hussain Talat took control. The duo shared an unbeaten stand that guided Zalmi to victory in the 17th over. Babar led the way with a fluent 56* from 42 balls, hitting seven boundaries and a six. Talat played a valuable hand with 51* off 37, including six fours and a six.
Shaheen Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for Lahore, grabbing 2 for 22 in his four overs, while Haris Rauf took one wicket.
Earlier, Zalmi’s decision to bowl first paid off as they bowled out Lahore for just 128 in 19.2 overs. The collapse began when Alzarri Joseph bowled out Fakhar Zaman (10) in the second over. The next over saw Luke Wood dismiss both Asif Ali (5) and Daryl Mitchell (2), leaving the home team in deep trouble.
Qalandars ended the powerplay at a shaky 35/5. Captain Shaheen Afridi promoted himself to steady the innings but could only manage 16 runs before falling in the eighth over.
Sikandar Raza tried to rebuild with Rishad Hossain and later Haris Rauf, but wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Raza top-scored for Lahore with a fighting 52 off 36 balls, which included five fours and three sixes.
Joseph was outstanding with the ball, picking up 3 for 16 in his four overs. He got strong support from Luke Wood and Hussain Talat, who claimed two wickets each. Arif Yaqoob and Ali Raza also chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Despite the win, Zalmi remained fourth on the PSL 10 points table with four points in five matches, just behind Lahore, who have the same number of points but a better net run rate.
