Lahore Qalandars skipper Shaheen Afridi's exceptional all-round display went in vain as they lost to Babar Azam-led Pesahwar Zalmi by a big margin of 35 runs. Wahab Riaz's stunning spell with the new ball kept Qalandars’ batters quiet as they could not score much in the powerplay overs and lost four wickets.
Zalmi openers Saim Ayub and Azam shared a 107-run partnership to set a platform for a big score. Rashid Khan got the breakthrough with the wicket of Ayub who scored 68 runs from 36 deliveries including eight fours and three sixes. Rashid struck again to remove Mohammad Haris for a single-digit score. Azam continued to play the anchor role. He scored 50 runs from 41 deliveries before losing his wicket to Haris Rauf.
Zalmi suffered a batting collapse. Afridi came back into the attack and picked up four wickets to restrict Zalmi's score to 207 as they got all out with three balls left in the innings. The left-arm pacer conceded 31 runs and picked up four wickets. Rauf, Zaman Khan and Rashid picked up two wickets each at Pindi Club Ground, Rawalpindi.
In the run chase of 208, Qalandars suffered a top-order collapse. Opener Shawaiz Irfan departed for a six-ball dot after getting bowled by Arshad Iqbal in the first over. Riaz conceded three runs from first three overs and picked up the wickets of Fakhar Zaman (11), wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings off consecutive deliveries in the fifth over. In the next over, Abdullah Shafique (7) lost his wicket to Azmatullah Omarzai. Qalandars managed to score just 24 runs from first six overs.
Hussain Talat and Afridi helped Qalandars recover with a 114-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Riaz got Afridi's wicket in the 17th over. He scored 52 runs from 36 balls including three fours and five sixes. Sikandar Raza contributed with a 7-ball 20 cameo but got bowled by Azmatullah. Iqbal came back into the attack and got Talat's wicket. He scored 63 runs from 37 deliveries including four fours and five sixes. Qalandars suffered a collapse in the slog overs and got all out for 172 with two balls left in the innings.
“We lost too many wickets early. 200 plus shouldn't have been given away. We should have batted better,” Afridi said after the loss.
Despite the loss, Qalandars are at the top of the points table with six wins from eight games. Zalmi boosted their chances of reaching last four with fourth win from seven games.
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