KARACHI: Islamabad United cruised to yet another victory over Peshawar Zalmi by six wickets and 31 balls to spare on Thursday, as the two sides faced each other at the National Bank Area in Karachi.
In yet another Pakistan Super League (PSL) victory for United over Zalmi, the former's Rahmanullah Gurbaz set up his team's victory courtesy of a stellar 31-ball 62-run knock. Gurbaz smashed seven boundaries and four sixes in his innings.
The other notable runs came off the bat of Rassie van der Dussen, who scored 42 runs off 29 balls, smashing six boundaries and helping Islamabad United chase the 157-run target within 15 overs of the one-sided contest between the two sides.
United encountered their first hiccup when their first wicket fell at 31. Arshad Iqbal clean bowled Colin Munro but an unstoppable Gurbaz took the attack to the United bowlers. Together with Dussen, Gurbaz piled on an impressive 98 runs in just 8.2 overs.
Gurbaz walked back to the pavilion after he was caught by Kohler-Cadmore at leg-spinner Usman Qadir's delivery after the Afghan batter miscued a sweep.
Asif Ali’s 29 off 13 and Azam Khan’s 9 runs from 6 balls sealed the victory for United. Iqbal, James Neesham, and Qadir took one wicket each for Zalmi. Qadir ended up being quite the expensive bowler, conceding 50 runs in his four expensive overs.
Batting first, Zalmi began on a strong note with a 76-run partnership between Muhammad Haris and skipper Azam. However, Haris was the first to fall at 40 from 21 balls after which right-arm pacer Hassan Ali took three quick wickets to put United in the driving seat of the match.
Ali dismissed Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell and James Neesham for 1, 0, and 6 respectively to give United the edge. None of the Zalmi batters managed to score in the double digits apart from Azam, Haris and Dasun Shanaka, who scored 11 runs before he was dismissed by Faheem Ashraf.
Ali finished with 3/35 from his four overs while Rumman Raees, Mubasir Khan and Ashraf each took a wicket as well.
