Image Credit- AFP
Babar Azam played a brilliant knock of 111, but it was
overshadowed by one of the most thrilling overs bowled by his teammate Arif
Yaqoob where he took 4 wickets in an over as Peshawar Zalmi managed to
withstand Islamabad United’s onslaught to win by 8 runs.
Babar played a captain’s knock as he and Saim Ayub
gave Zalmi a rollicking start of 77 in the first 7 overs. But the dismissal of
Ayub in the 8th over brought a halt on proceedings as Islamabad
began to put a choke on the runs by pinching wickets at regular intervals.
At 124/5 in 15 overs, it felt that all the good work
done by Zalmi in the early exchanges would count for nought as they would flounder
on an underpar score, but Babar found an ally in Asif Ali that saw Zalmi
plunder 77 runs in the last 5 overs to see them reach a rather formidable total
of 201. Babar’s knock oozed class and was adorned with 14 boundaries and 2
towering sixes.
In response, Islamabad United got off to a shoddy
start, but the duo of Azam Khan and Colin Munro went absolutely ballistic as
they plundered a 100-plus stand in double quick time, with Azam Khan going
hammer and tongs en route to his 30-ball 75.
It felt like Islamabad would cruise to victory in the
manner both these batsmen were playing their shots, but Azam Khan’s dismissal on
the last ball of the 18th over paved the way for a magical chapter
in Arif Yaqoob’s career.
Yaqoob went on to destroy the bearings of the
Islamabad chase in just 6 balls, dismissing Munro, Haider Ali, Faheem Ashraf
and Hunain Shah, and thereby setting the foundation for a Zalmi victory. This
win saw Peshawar notch three consecutive wins in a matter of 4 days, while
Islamabad slumped to their third straight loss.