In the last league match of the seventh edition of Pakistan Super League played at Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Peshawar Zalmi won the toss against Lahore Qalandars and decided to bat first.
When Zalmai started the innings, the hero of the last match Muhammad Haris made only six runs.
For the second wicket, Hazratullah Zazai and Kamran Akmal added 36 runs to take the score to 49. Zazai got a chance at the beginning of the innings when Kamran Ghulam could not catch him but the Afghan batsmen did not take advantage of this opportunity. Coins and 20 runs became Hafeez’s wicket.
Zalmai had not yet recovered from the loss when Fawad Ahmed scattered Kamran Akmal’s wickets to give his team its third victory.
After losing three wickets for 51 runs, Haider Ali was joined by Shoaib Malik and the two formed a 60-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Shoaib Malik became Fawad’s second wicket after scoring 32 runs.
Haider Ali could not stand the separation of his teammate and with the addition of two runs in the total score, his innings of 25 runs also came to an end.
Zalmai failed to play aggressively in the closing overs and managed to score 158 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the stipulated overs.
For Lahore Qalandars, Australia’s Fawad Ahmed took two wickets while Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Muhammad Hafeez and David Visay took one wicket each.
In pursuit of the target, Qalandars got hit on the first ball and Shoaib Malik’s ball returned to the pavilion without scoring a run.
For the second wicket, Phil Salt shared a 37-run stand with Kamran Ghulam but Salt was bowled out for 14.
Kamran Ghulam was dismissed for 25, but the Qalandars’ pursuit of the goal was thwarted when Harry Brook went to the pavilion with just two runs.
After losing four wickets, Sohail Akhtar came to support Hafeez and both of them added 39 runs to take the total to 88. The former captain of Qalandars was dismissed for 19 runs while David Visay’s innings ended with just one run.
At this stage, all hopes were pinned on Muhammad Hafeez, but he was dismissed after playing an innings of 49. Qalandars scored 129 runs.
In the last over of the match, the hosts needed 24 runs to win but Shaheen Shah Afridi changed the course of the match with his aggressive batting.
The Qalandars captain tied the match by scoring 23 runs in the last over.
Shaheen Shah Afridi scored 39 off 20 balls with the help of two fours and four sixes.
In the super over, Lahore Qalandars batsmen failed to score and could score only 5 runs off six balls and Shoaib Malik of Peshawar Zalmi hit fours off the first two balls to lead his team to victory.
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi made six changes in the squad for the match and made Kamran Akmal, Emad Butt, Khalid Usman, Muhammad Umar, Arshad Iqbal and Haider Ali part of the final XI while Qalandars team also made one change. Ű”
Teams from Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars have already qualified for the playoffs of the event.
Both teams were composed of these players for the match.
Lahore Qalandars: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhruzzaman, Phil Salt, Kamran Ghulam, Muhammad Hafeez, Harry Brook, Sohail Akhtar, David Visay, Fawad Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.
Peshawar Zalmi: Mohammad Haris, Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Hussain Talat, Emad Butt, Wahab Riaz, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Omar, Arshad Iqbal.