LAHORE: Peshawar Zalmi defeated Rawalpindis by 5 wickets in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.
Zalmi successfully chased Bindis’s target of 215 for the loss of 5 wickets thanks to a brilliant performance from openers Babar Azam, Mohammed Harris, Michael Bracewell, Abdul Samad and Gusal Mendis.
The team got off to a great start as Harris and skipper Babur set the tone with a blistering score. The duo put on a 50-run partnership in five overs, displaying their mettle with regular fours.
However, their 78-run stand was broken when Asif Afridi dismissed Babur, who scored 39 runs off 28 balls, including 4 fours and a six.
Haris continued to keep up the scoreboard but was eventually dismissed by Amat Bhatt after scoring 47 off 28 balls with four fours and two sixes.
Then Gusal Mendis, who came on for Greece, quickly accelerated the scoring, Pintis put pressure on the bowling and crossed the 100 mark with Aaron Hardy struggling at the other end.
However, a promising partnership ended when Rishad Hossain dismissed Hardy cheaply for 8 off 10 balls to reduce Zalmi to 128-3 in 13.3 overs.
In the first ball of the 15th over, Mendis lost his fourth wicket, scoring 31 runs off 17 balls with a four and two sixes, before Amat Bhat took his second wicket.
Abdul Samad and Michael Bracewell combined to stabilize the innings, adding crucial runs to ease the pressure and take the team past 150.
Mohammad Amir, despite being hit for boundaries, dismissed Abdul Samad after scoring 33 off 11 balls that included a four and four sixes.
Aamir Jamal, who came in later, hit a six off the first ball of Naseem Shah and eased the pressure to take the team past 200 and close to the target.
Jamal was unbeaten on 17 off 5 balls off the first ball of the final over, while Bracewell scored 35 off 17 balls including a four and 4 sixes.
Amat Bhatt was expensive but led the bowling with figures of 2/45 from four overs, while Mohammad Amir, Asif Afridi and Rishath Hossain claimed a wicket each.
Rawalpindi decided to bat first and scored 214 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs. Openers Yasir Khan and skipper Mohammad Rizwan set the tone, punishing anything loose and making boundaries fly.
The duo put together a 50-run partnership and struck from the start as they aimed to take their team to a huge score on their PSL debut.
Yasir Khan took the lead and raised his bat to his third PSL half-century while keeping the scoreboard ticking. Rizwan was equally aggressive, hitting back-to-back fours to help the pair reach their 100-run opening stand.
However, Zalmi’s Ali Raza broke this partnership, taking Rizwan to 41 off 32 balls, with 5 fours and a six off the first delivery of the 13th over, to complete 125 runs.
Yasir Khan continued his onslaught, poised for a maiden PSL century, but he too fell to Ali Raza in the 15th over, finishing with 83 off 46 balls with 7 fours and 6 sixes as the team were bowled out for 144-2.
In the final overs, Kamran Ghulam and Daryl Mitchell combined to speed up the scoring as Rawalpindi passed 150.
However, their 41-run partnership was broken when Aaron Hardy smashed 37 runs off 20 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to dismiss Kamran Ghulam for the first wicket of the match.
On the first ball of the last over, Amir Jamal dismissed Rawalpindi’s fourth batsman Daryl Mitchell, who had scored 23 runs off 13 balls including 2 sixes.
As Amir conceded 17 runs, Sam Billings played an important cameo in the final over, scoring an unbeaten 18 off eight balls including a four and 2 sixes. Abdullah Fazal also contributed five runs.
Ali Raza was Zalmi’s best bowler despite being expensive, finishing with figures of 2/42 from three overs, while Hardy and Jamal claimed a wicket each.