A nail-biting clash between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United, was decided in the final over of the match as the Wahab Riaz-led Zalmi secured a 10-run victory in a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match, played in Lahore, on February 17.
Batting first, Peshawar Zalmi opening batsman and wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris played a splendid innings of 70 runs off 32 balls to help his side in reaching a mammoth total of 206 runs losing 8 wickets in 20 overs. He scored his half century in just 18 balls and became the joint-third fastest scorer of a half century in the history of PSL.
Haris on fire
The wicketkeeper-batsman’s innings was comprised of some terrific shots as he smashed 7 boundaries and 5 sixes. Harris looked set to score a century but Mohammad Musa ‘s good length delivery eventually did the trick as Harris attempted to play a reverse sweep in the 10th over of the innings but it was not timed properly and went straight to Waqas Maqsood.
Later, Yasir Khan (35 runs off 24 balls) and veteran Pakistan batter Shoaib Malik (38 runs off 23 deliveries) showed some solid batting skills and helped their side in reaching a big total.
For Islamabad United, their right-arm medium pace bowler Faheem Ashraf picked up three wickets to keep the opposition batting unit under some pressure. Apart from Faheem, another pacer Waqas Maqsood scalped two wickets.
The Peshawar Zalmi side will still be a little unhappy with their batting performance as they lost their last four wickets within a span of just 14 runs.
The run chase
In reply, Islamabad United started their run chase on a positive note and the opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (46 runs off 19 balls) and Mubasir Khan (21 runs off 19 balls) notched a partnership of 54 runs.
In the fourth over of the innings Salman Irshad provided a crucial breakthrough as he sent Gurbaz back to the dressing room.
Later, Islamabad wicketkeeper batsman Azam Khan played a superb innings of 85 runs off 45 deliveries to keep his team’s winning chances alive in the fixture. Azam’s innings was comprised of 6 boundaries and 7 sixes.
But eventually, Azam’s brave fight came to an end in the 19th over of the innings after Peshawar Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz dismissed Azam.
Salman Irshad picked up three vital wickets for United to help his side in successfully defending the target.
