Lightening performances from Hazratullah Zazai and Jonathan Wells take Peshawar Zalmi to an eight-wicket victory over Islamabad United in the second eliminator of PSL to book the spot for the Final against Multan Sultans on Thursday.
Chasing a gigantic target of 175, PZ was off to lose start after losing Kamran Akmal 8 (6) in the first over of Hassan Ali after chopping the delivery into stumps.
This brought Hazratullah Zazai and Jonathan Wells together in the middle overs. The pair faced serious fast bowling at the start but they never lost the momentum to reach 126 runs standoff 81 balls.
Zazai put a great power show before Mohammad Wasim bowled him out on 66 (44).
Veteran right-hander, Shoaib Malik then joined Wells to let his side across the winning line with eight wickets and 19 balls to spare.
Wells remained unbeaten on 55 off 43 balls alongside Malik who remained unbeaten on 32 off 10 balls to take Peshawar Zalmi across 177 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 16.5 overs.
Hassan Ali and Mohammad Wasim picked up one wicket each.
Earlier today, after losing the toss and being asked to bat first, Islamabad was off to an ugly start as the opener, Usman Khawaja lost his wicket in a mix-up after scoring 1 (2) early in the innings.
Right after that, wicket-keeper batsman, Mohamamd Akhlaq was removed by Mohammad Imran, caught by Kamran Akmal after scoring 7 off 5 balls.
Next came, Brandon King to score big but he was removed by all-rounder, Amad Butt after scoring 18 off 16 balls, caught by Umaid Asif.
While wickets kept falling from one end, Colin Munro keeps moving the scorecard in the same traditional manner.
His show was finally ended by Mohammad Irfan after scoring 44 off 29 balls, caught by Kamran Akmal.
PZ bowled tighter to build pressure on IU to avoid any partnerships that would damage them in the death overs.
PZ skipper, Wahab Riaz came into action after dismissing Iftikhar Ahmed 10 (12), caught by wicket-keeper, Kamran Akmal.
Umaid Asif also joined the party to pick up the crucial wicket of Shadab Khan when he scored 15 off 16 balls, caught by Kamran Akmal.
Umaid gave another big blow to IU after getting rid of the dangerous Asif Ali when had only scored 8 off 7 balls, caught by Sherfane Rutherford.
Wahab Riaz struck again to remove Faheem Ashraf 1 (5) before he could settle into the crease, caught by Zazai.
Just when it looked like United’s were going to bundle out near 140, Hassan Ali and Mohammad Wasim changed the game completely towards their side.
The pair combined a 61 runs standoff just 24 balls to get their side across a significant total.
Hasan Ali was picked up in a mix-up at the end after scoring a blistering 45-run knock-off of 16 balls while Mohammad Wasim remained unbeaten after scoring 17 runs off 11 balls as Islamabad United ended their innings with 174 runs for the loss of nine wickets at the end of first innings.
Wahab Riaz and Umaid Asif picked up two wickets each for their side.
“The fans supported us, prayed for us. It was a difficult route we took to the final but it’s a great feeling.
“There is no fear. They are playing very good cricket, so I’ll just say the pressure is on them again. Let’s see if they can handle it. The way my boys have played, they deserve the day off. They need to relax and prepare for the final,”
said the losing captain, Wahab Riaz.
“We didn’t get the momentum with the batting in both matches. We didn’t do well in pressure situations. Nerves need to be managed. It was tough, and we couldn’t utilize it. 170 odd after Hasan’s innings got us into the match. But small mistakes you can say if Zazai was caught early then the game could’ve gone another way. We won 8 league matches, but in the two pressure games, we couldn’t perform how we should’ve. Sorry to our fans. We’ll try to be champs next season,”
said the losing captain, Shadab Khan.
