On Sunday, Lahore Qalandars, the hometown team, put up a season-high batting total of 241 for 3, putting on a six-hitting clinic at Gaddafi Stadium. The winning team smashed 18 sixes in the match.
The Peshawar Zalmi batting lineup was then completely destroyed by Shaheen Shah Afridi, who finished with 5 for 40 to give the Qalandars a 40-run victory in a high-scoring match against a mid-table side.
The top order of the Qalandars set up the match by adding 120 runs in 10.3 overs between Abdullah Shafique (75) and Fakhar Zaman (96). In the pair, Shafique made the most contributions, smashing five fours and five sixes in 41 balls.
Once he collapsed, Fakhar Zaman took control of the game and blasted down 10 sixes and three fours as he raced towards his third T20 century. He missed the record by four, though, after timing a drive to cover poorly.
Zalmi had the chance to lower Qalandars’ run rate in the middle overs with Fakhar gone. Sam Billings, who bats at number four, prevented that from happening by scoring 47 runs in 23 balls to leave Zalmi chasing a difficult 242. The 18 sixes hit by the Qalandars also set a PSL record, and their overall total ranked third all-time in the competition.
Mohammad Haris and Babar Azam bowed to Shaheen’s new-ball spell at the beginning of the Zalmi chase, which was disastrous.
A batting-friendly surface and early half-centuries from Saim Ayub (51) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (55) kept Zalmi’s run rate high, bringing the team to 119 for 2 in 10 overs.
They had a significant impact on Rashid Khan’s 1 for 49 in his four overs, which was his lowest performance in PSL history.
All the same, both hitters were knocked out within the span of six pitches, making it impossible for the middle order’s highly experienced bats to shine. The side needed more runs from them because the objective was so high, but Bhanuka Rajapaksa, James Neesham, and Rovman Powell only made brief appearances.
During his second outing, Shaheen made a comeback and profited from the Zalmi batters who were aiming for home runs. Saad Masood, Wahab Riaz, and Neesham were all bowled by him with the older ball for his seventh five-for in T20s, taking the edge off the match. Zalmi finished the innings on 201 for 9, falling short of the target despite their determined batting effort.
Since they gave up 441 runs in 40 overs, bowlers had a generally terrible day. Arshad Iqbal of Zalmi (0 for 28), Zaman Khan (2 for 28), and Haris Rauf (1 for 38) of Qalandars were the only three bowlers to have bowling economies in the single digits.
Match Report
Lahore Qalandars 241 for 3 (Fakhar 96, Shafique 75, Billings 47*, Riaz 2-45) beat Peshawar Zalmi 201 for 9 (Kohler-Cadmore 55, Ayub 51, Shaheen 5-40) by 40 runs