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That will be all from this contest but we have another game coming up with Islamabad United locking horns with Multan Sultans in under an hour from now. Do switch tabs and follow our coverage of that contest right here on Sportskeeda and do stay tuned to the same platform for further cricketing news and action from around the globe. For the moment though, this is the duo of Pragadeesh and Sooryanarayanan taking your leave as we thank you so much for joining us. See you around soon - buh-bye for now!
Areas to work upon for both sides but neither will panic. Zalmi might have just started peaking at the right time and they are one win away from assuring themselves a spot in the knockouts. As for the Qalandars, they'll take this as a reality-check at the perfect juncture and look to refine their game having already made the knockouts. They wouldn't want a slip-up of this kind when they beckon alright!
Babar Azam (Peshawar Zalmi captain): When we started off, the wicket was really good. We utilized the first six overs very well and wanted to continue in the same manner. We didn't put ourselves under pressure and executed well. That was our plan - to go with a different left-right combination and thankfully that worked well for us. Saim Ayub batted really well. We lost too many wickets towards the end but the first 15 overs went really well for us. You always want to keep improving. We should have done better in the last 10 overs with the ball. We'll look to keep working on this.
Shaheen Afridi (Lahore Qalandars captain): We made mistakes and we lost three-four wickets too early and that put us under pressure. We will look to work on our mistakes ahead of the next game. Because we lost four wickets early I decided to come up the order.
Saim Ayub is the Player of the Match for his stellar knock of 68 off 36 deliveries. Here's what he has to say: After the last game against Lahore, we decided to play attacking cricket. I just focused on my strengths and looked to attack. We obviously plan keeping the opposition in mind and it worked out today. The first target in our mind was 200+ and then we wanted to get as many as we could.
Wahab Riaz: It all started with the way we bowled the first over and it's all about executing our plans in the following overs. Fakhar is a dangerous batsman and as an opposition bowler it's important to get the main batter out and that's what I did. Saim is an exceptional talent and it was great to see the openers getting some runs. In the last few matches, we saw the teams that got 8 to 9 wickets are always behind, so if two batters get going then it will be hard to stop on wickets like this
Match Summary: Peshawar Zalmi beat Lahore Qalandars by 35 runs.
A mixed bowling display by Peshawar Zalmi but the fact that they were absolutely brilliant up front meant that they got the job done well in advance. The Qalandars fought hard against the run of play, but the asking rate escalated to such gargantuan proportions that they were almost never in with a realistic chance.
Arshad Iqbal had debutant Shawaiz Irfan in all sorts at the start, getting the ball to hoop around off the surface while also letting it fly with some serious pace. Irfan was bowled for a duck before Fakhar Zaman tried to add impetus to the innings. But with too many dots piling up, the pressure told with Zalmi keeping things as tight as they could. Wahab Riaz then capitalized on the opportunity, nipping both Fakhar and Sam Billings off consecutive deliveries to break the back of the chase.
Abdullah Shafique then fell prey to a screamer of a Rovman Powell catch and with the Qalandars reeling, skipper Shaheen Afridi padded up himself and took control of the situation. At least, that's what he tried to do, although he swung like a rusty gate initially with the short-pitched stuff having him tied up in knots. Hussain Talat started slow himself and that saw the required run rate soar rapidly.
Both southpaws then switched gears and swung hard for the fences, with Shaheen's straight hits standing out. Talat, who hasn't quite been at his best this tournament, also came into his own and even as the asking rate was too high to their liking, the duo vaulted the Qalandars back to restore a semblance of hope into the chase. Both batters racked up half-centuries even as the bowlers struggled for rhythm, before Wahab returned to prize out Shaheen's wicket.
Sikandar Raza wasn't going to buckle down without a fight of his own and started dealing in fours and sixes himself. Realistically, Zalmi needed just one good over to wrap up the contest and once Azmatullah Omarzai castled Raza, they were able to breathe easy. Talat perished soon after and with David Wiese and Rashid Khan unable to make a substantial impact, the rest folded like a pack of cards with Arshad Iqbal fittingly finishing with three wickets against his name. A much-needed win in the end for Zalmi, although they would have fancied a more clinical performance across departments. They didn't really polish things as well as they'd have liked after the kind of starts they received although the fact that they've got the two points and still won by a convincing margin is something they'll be pleased about. Stick around for the presentation...
Easily held by Haseebullah and it brings the contest to a close. This was always going to have large-scale ramifications on the end result and we now know that Karachi Kings are officially out of contention owing to this result!
19.4 Aamer Jamal to Zaman Khan, OUT! Zalmi had all the answers to the in-form Qalandars team and get revenge for their defeat. Slow delivery angling in, Zaman miscues his shot and the keeper runs sideways to his right to wrap things up. Zaman Khan c Haseebullah Khan b Aamer Jamal 4 (3b, 1x4, 0x6)
19.3 Aamer Jamal to Zaman Khan, IN THE AIR...FOUR! Pitched up on a fuller length angling in, Zaman slices it over mid-off and the ball bounced over the fielder's head before going over the ropes
19.2 Aamer Jamal to Zaman Khan, good length outside off-stump, Zaman swings and misses
Zaman Khan, RHB, is the last man out in the middle
That's a bullet throw from Omarzai! I don't think Rashid ever had a doubt that there was a brace on there. But he's been caught a mile shy of his ground owing to a ridiculously rapid throw from Omarzai.
19.1 Aamer Jamal to Rashid Khan, RUN OUT! Good length angling in, Rashid clears the front leg and heaves it down to deep square leg. He wants a second to retain strike but there was never a run there. The keeper collects and knocks the stumps to catch Rashid a long way short of his crease. Rashid Khan run out (Azmatullah Omarzai/Haseebullah Khan) 2 (3b, 0x4, 0x6)
Aamer Jamal [3.0-0-33-0] to bowl the final over of the match
Haris Rauf, RHB, comes to the crease
Too easy for the bucket-handed Rovman Powell and that's the game. Zalmi can't lose it now - they've been given a bit of a scare even if they were always ahead of the eight-ball, but how well has Arshad Iqbal bowled today? Fittingly ends with a third wicket to his name.
19
overs
167/8score
4
W
0
1
0
W
runs
David Wiese*
0(2)
Rashid Khan
1(2)
Arshad Iqbal
3/27
18.6 Arshad Iqbal to David Wiese, IN THE AIR...TAKEN! Hits the deck hard on a good length and it hurries the batter again, Wiese was late to offer a shot and the top-edge ballons it to Rovman Powell, who runs forward and pouches it safely. David Wiese c Rovman Powell b Arshad Iqbal 0 (2b, 0x4, 0x6)
18.5 Arshad Iqbal to David Wiese, good length outside off-stump at 142.1kph, Wiese swings hard from the crease but the ball nips slightly back off the seam to beat the outside edge