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Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam and his opening partner Saim Ayub got their side off to a blazing start in the run chase of 207 against Quetta Gladiators. In their Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024 campaign opener, Babar shrugged off the strike rate criticism and smashed a 42-ball 68 but it was not enough to take Peshawar Zalmi home. In the post-match presentation, he apologised to Ayub for the unwanted run that led to run-out.
"The run-out was the turning point," Babar said in the post-match presentation. "We were building a good partnership and looking to take the partnership long into the innings. Unfortunately, it was my mistake and I've said sorry to Saim.”
The two batters shared a 91-run partnership from 52 balls. In the ninth over, Ayub punched the ball towards deep cover. Mohammad Wasim Jr did not collect the throw and they went for an extra run. Fielder Khawaja Nafay was backing up and he threw the ball to wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed who took off the bails. Ayub departed for a 26-ball 42 as Quetta Gladiators got the breakthrough.
Peshawar Zalmi crumble in slog overs after Babar’s departure
In the next over, Babar completed his half-century with a six. In the 16th over, Babar fell to Abrar Ahmed. His 42-ball 68 featured four fours and as many sixes. In the same over, Abrar dismissed Tom Kohler-Cadmore as well. In the slog overs, Peshawar Zalmi's finishers could not take the game close. They posted 190/6 and lost the match by 16 runs.
“Chasing 200+, the first six overs were important. We wanted to be positive. Quetta were on the back foot. But we conceded 10-20 runs too many. We weren't up to the mark in the first six overs with the ball. We tried our best with the bat, the middle-order didn't perform as well as we would have liked,” the skipper said after the loss.
Babar creates PSL history
Meanwhile, Babar achieved a personal milestone. He became the first-ever batter in PSL history to breach the 3,000-run mark. Now, he has 3,003 runs from 78 innings at an average of 44.16 including one century and 29 half-centuries. However, his strike rate of 125.49 is the lowest among the top five run-scorers of the league.
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