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Babar Azam led from the front as Peshawar Zalmi ended Islamabad United's run in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 as Shadab Khan's side suffered a 12-run defeat in the first eliminator of the season on Thursday (March 17).
Babar cracked a scintillating 64 off 39 riding on 10 boundaries to help Zalmis post a challenging 183/8. In reply, United were reduced to 171/6 in their stipulated 20 overs. After this victory, Peshawar Zalmi will next lock horns with Lahore Qalandars in the Eliminator 2 at the same venue on Friday (March 17).
Azmatullah Omarzai gave Peshawar a good start in the form of Rahmanullah Gurbaz's wicket who was sent to pavilion after scoring just 10 runs. But Alex Hales and Sohaib Maqsood steadied United's boat as they stitched a brilliant 115 runs for the second wicket which saw a good display of clean hitting. Later, the mountain-like stand was shattered by Aamer Jamal bowled Sohaib Maqsood at the score of 60 off 48. After Maqsood's departure, Peshawar didn't look back and took control of the match with some clever bowling and regular wickets.
Azam Khan (2), who played some insane knocks earlier in the tournament, once again failed score big and was dismissed by by Salman Irshad. Hales' fightbal too didn't last long as he fell prey to Aamer Jamal after belting 57 runs in 37 balls riding on nine boundaries. Faheem Ashraf, who slipped while trying to return to the crease, was run out after a direct hit from Jamal.
It was all upto captain Shadab then, who scored an unbeaten 26 runs in 12 balls but to only see his side going down and get knocked out of PSL 2023.
Irshad was the pick of the Peshawar bowlers with figures of 2/18 in four overs.
Earlier batting first, Peshawar were restricted to 183/8 in 20 overs. Riding on the dazzling duo of Babar Azam and Saim Ayub, Peshawar got a cracking start as they added 60 runs in only 4.4 overs. However, Pacer Mohammad Wasim Jr provided a much-needed breakthrough to Islamabad after Ayub, who scored 23 runs in 16 balls, miscued a pull shot and was caught at mid-on by Faheem Ashraf. Azam smashed 64 off 39 and became the fastest player to score 9,000 runs in T20 cricket during his impressive knock. Mohammad Haris too contributed with 34 off 17 balls riding on three fours and two sixes.
It looked like Peshawar will cross the 200-run mark without toiling hard but Islamabad bowlers did well to reduce them to 183. Shadab snared two wickets which also saw Babar falling prey to his bowling.
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