KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi wrapped a fine win against Quetta Gladiators on Thursday in a match shortened by rain. Having set 171 for the win, they restricted Quetta for 140/7 to win by 30 runs. Once again, Zalmi had begun the match-day with big news about Daren Sammy – this time the erstwhile captain was promoted mid-tournament to coach for the next two years. It brought an end to the speculation regarding his omission from the previous game, and Zalmi looked a lot more comfortable in their skin for a change.
The steady outbursts of rain this week in Rawalpindi had repeatedly threatened to wash out games, but once again a combination of good luck and excellent work by the ground staff ensured that a match took place, though reduced by five overs for each side. Quetta’s young pace bowling sensation Naseem Shah was delightful in his opening spell, beating Imam ul Haq in particular before the hapless batter’s edge was spilled by Shane Watson at slip. Imam fell soon after though, and Quetta seemed to have the upper hand. Naseem had to go off injured, however, and while it didn’t look like it at the time it was the start of Quetta’s unraveling.
It began with a fantastic partnership between Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik, who picked up the slack run-rate. Haider Ali once again left Pakistanis rubbing their eyes with disbelief with the purity of his shots, but he eventually lost his shape looking to attack Hasnain and was caught out. Malik had looked good with Haider during this time, and he soon exploded. Defying his traditional weakness against pace, Malik ended up with the fourth-fastest fifty of his considerably expansive career. He was smart with his movement across the crease, and displayed a commitment to aggression that had felt missing earlier in the tournament. Clearly the Rawalpindi pitch hasn’t hurt, as its bounce and pace has played to Malik’s strengths as he’s hit back to back fifties here. Both Liam Livingstone and Lewis Gregory were able to build around Malik’s hitting, and it meant that having started off poorly, Peshawar ended up with a total that would have felt just about competitive in a 20 over match.
In reply, Quetta’s openers looked to ensure that they didn’t lose wickets early. The plan looked like it was working after the first three overs as both Watson and Jason Roy found the boundaries. But both openers have yet to look truly fluent in this PSL, and Peshawar started drying up the runs before Watson holed out off Hasan Ali. Jason Roy looked to up the pace after his demise, particularly as new man Ahmed Shehzad looked lost out in the middle. Like Salman Butt last night in Lahore, Shehzad’s innings was baffling in how he kept wasting balls in a match with a huge target. Eventually, Roy felt compelled to keep his team up with the required run-rate, and looked to slog Yasir Shah only to be bowled. His wicket brought Ben Cutting out to the crease. The all-rounder has been in sparkling touch with the bat, after having been one of several Quetta bowlers to have been smashed earlier in the day. After two massive sixes, he was controversially given out off Wahab Riaz after replays seemed to suggest that the bowler had over-stepped.
It was the second wicket off as many balls after Shehzad’s sorry innings had come to an end previously, and when Azam Khan holed out a few balls later any hope left for Quetta were decisively extinguished. Zalmi’s bowlers bowled well, but with the wet outfield preventing their usual reliance on reverse swing, they would have been thankful to the imposing target which did most of the work for them.
Peshawar would have been relieved with this win, which ended a slightly wayward period after a washout and a defeat. However, with the tournament now reaching its business end, the team that has made the last three finals would be relishing its chances to make it four in a row.
