KARACHI: Captain Babar Azam’s superb century and brilliant bowling helped table toppers Peshawar Zalmi to a 70-run victory over three-time champions Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11th Qualifier on Tuesday.
The win took the Babar-led side into the finals of the ongoing eight-team competition, while United will face the winning side of Eliminator 1 between Multan Sultans and Hyderabad Kingsmen in Lahore on May 1 to clinch a place at the summit.
Chasing a tough target of 222, United were bowled out for 151 runs in 18.4 overs.
The 2024 champions, however, had their opening pair Devon Conway (20) and Samir Minhas sharing a 58-run partnership, which culminated in the dismissal of the former on the final delivery of the fifth over.
Minhas put on 23 for the second wicket with Mohsin Riaz until he was dismissed by Aaron Hardy in the ninth over.
The right-handed opener top scored for United with 44 off 23 balls with 7 fours and a six.
Skipper Shadab Khan (six) joined top-order batsman Mohsin in the middle, but the duo stitched an 18-run partnership for the third wicket, with Hardy striking again in his next over.
Mohsin followed that up in the next over, falling to Subian Muqeem after scoring 25 off 20 balls as United slumped to 100/4.
United lost four more wickets in just 23 balls to be reduced to 126/8 in 15.1 overs.
Experienced all-rounder Imad Wasim provided some fight after collapsing with 22 off 15 balls, falling to Mohammed Basit in the last over.
Basit struck again in the same over, removing Salman Mirza to wrap up a dominant win for Peshawar Zalmi.
Hardy sparked Zalmi’s bowling with frugal bowling figures of 3/24 from his four overs, followed by Mukeem and Basit with two each, Michael Bracewell and Khurram Shahzad with one each.
United skipper Shadab Khan’s decision to bat first backfired as the table-toppers amassed 221/7 in their 20 overs thanks to Babar’s anchor.
The 2017 champions got their innings off to a rousing start as their opening pair of Babar and Mohammad Haris put on 72 before the latter was dismissed in the second ball of the seventh over by Shatab.
Haris scored 35 off 16 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
Babur was joined by Gusal Mendis in the middle and the duo put on 84 runs for the second wicket to keep the momentum going in favor of Zalmi.
All-rounder Faheem Ashraf eventually dismissed Mendis for 41 off 26 balls with 5 fours and a six in the 15th over to break the crucial partnership.
With Michael Bracewell (two) and Abdul Samad (nil) dismissed early on, Zalmi lost two more wickets in the next over bowled by Shadab as the former champions slumped to 164/4.
But Babar held firm and single-handedly brought down the scoreboard in the 18th over of the innings to reach his fourth PSL century.
Babar Azam was the victim of Salman Mirza in the last over and returned after scoring 103 runs off 59 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes.
All-rounder Aaron Hardy scored 20 off just 10 balls until he was outfoxed by Richard Gleeson’s slow delivery in the last over.
Gleeson struck again in the final over, removing youngster Farhan Yousaf (nil) off the final delivery to pull things back for United.
Skipper Shadab was the best bowler for United with 3 for 42 in his four overs, followed by Gleeson with 2 and Faheem and Salman with one each.