Image Credit- PSL
In the Pakistan
Super League on Tuesday, Peshawar Zalmi defeated Multan Sultans by four runs,
despite Iftikhar Ahmed’s incredible sixty runs in just twenty-seven balls.
In Pakistan’s top domestic Twenty20 league, Zalmi is the only team that has
defeated Sultans twice so far this year.
With six wins out of eight games, the Sultans have already qualified for the
playoffs, and Zalmi is getting closer to a spot in the final four with two
games remaining and nine points.
Iftikhar and Chris
Jordan (who finished with 30* off 12) counterattacked against seamers Aamer
Jamal, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Salman Irshad, forcing Sultans to need 58 off the
final three overs before succumbing at 200-5.
Captain Babar Azam, who had earlier won the toss and hit 64 off 40 balls, was
in fine form. Saim Ayub, a left-handed batsman, scored 46 runs off of 22 balls
in Zalmi’s robust 204-5 total, as both batsmen scored the most runs this
season—71—during the powerplay.
Babar and Ayub put the Sultans’ pace and spin to the test, quickly establishing
an 84-run lead at 12-a-over.
Usama Mir, the
tournament’s top wicket-taker, trapped Ayub leg before wicket in his first over
after he hammered five sixes and three fours. Ayub was merciless against pace
with his signature huge strokes on the on side.
With eighteen wickets, Mir tops the bowling statistics; however, his teammate
Mohammad Ali, with fourteen, had a forgettable day against Ayub and Babar,
returning with costly figures of 0-46 off his three overs.
With a series of brilliant legbreaks, Mir dragged Zalmi back after dismissing
Tom Kohler-Cadmore (5). In his final over, Mir clean bowled Babar, setting up a
crucial wicket before Rovman Powell (23) and Jamal (12) made brief appearances
in the final five overs.
Rookie left-arm
spinner Mehran Mumtaz, who bowled with a lot of confidence in the powerplay and
had Reeza Hendricks (5) caught off his own bowling in his debut PSL over,
proved to be a formidable opponent for the Sultans top order.
In the 12th over, Asif Ali brilliantly caught a ball and timed his jump to
perfection on the edge of the boundary, dismissing Dawid Malan (19) with a
superb catch, leaving Captain Muhammad Rizwan (32) unable to escape Jamal’s
follow through.
However, Iftikhar and Jordan’s scorching 75-run partnership off just 28 balls
almost put the Sultans ahead, but Zalmi’s pacers barely held on in the final
three overs.