KARACHI: Inspired by Shaheen Shah Afridi’s incisive bowling and Rashid Khan’s cameo, Lahore Qalandars opened their HBL Pakistan Super League 6 season on a successful note when they nailed Peshawar Zalmi by four wickets here at the National Stadium on Sunday.

Faltering as they were in the chase, Lahore Qalandars almost gave way until Rashid soothed their nerves by blasting 27 of the 34 runs he and the self-assured Mohammad Hafeez scored in tandem from 19 balls to take last season’s runners-up over the line at 143-6 with nine balls to spare.

In fact, it was an excellent first game for the Afghanistan star cricketer on his PSL debut. The 22-year-old first kept Peshawar Zalmi by returning economical figures of 0-14 in four overs and not conceding any boundary. And then Rashid dashed Peshawar Zalmi’s outside hopes of a possible win when he took their captain, Wahab Riaz, to the cleaners with a couple of lusty blows.

Rashid’s 15-ball cameo included three fours and one six. Hafeez, who remained as cool as cucumber despite the regular procession of wickets at the other end, anchored the innings diligently while scoring 33 with his 26-ball contribution featuring five boundaries.

The 40-year-old Hafeez saw Saqib Mahmood dismiss Samit Patel (8) and David Wiese (0) on successive deliveries in the 16th over but the arrival of Rashid turned the tide towards Qalandars, who seemed to have learned to stay calm under pressure after their tremendous resurgence during PSL V.

Fakhar Zaman (15) and captain Sohail Akhtar (14) — who provided young Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman with a wicket on the first ball on his PSL debut — left the scene in the powerplay, which concluded with their side struggling at 38-2, just as Peshawar Zalmi had themselves in the doldrums at 36-3 during the same stage of first half.

Salman Ali Agha (21 off 16 balls) and Ben Dunk (22 off 14) also put in their share for the team’s cause but Qalandars made it tough for themselves Rashid joined Hafeez.

Earlier on a rather hot afternoon after Sohail had inserted the opposition into bat, Peshawar Zalmi’s innings was more or less an imitation of what Quetta Gladiators had encountered in the opening fixture against holders Karachi Kings on Saturday. The only difference, however, this time being Imam-ul-Haq trudging off after nicking the very first ball from Shaheen to wicket-keeper Duck. Every single delivery of that maiden over from the Pakistan spearhead was on the spot and could had fetched him another wicket.

Kamran Akmal (5) then holed out to deep square leg while giving debutant seam bowler Salman Mirza his maiden T20 wicket. The 25-year-old left-armer — who had graduated through the franchise’s highly-acclaimed player development programme — induced Haider to drive away from his body, only for Dunk to take a low catch and sent the young Pakistan right-hander marching off for a first-ball duck.

Much depended on the experienced shoulders of Malik and Bopara — who between them had figured in a staggering combined total of 784 matches in the T20 format — but Malik (26 off 24, three boundaries) then gave Dunk his third catch of the innings when Wiese came on to bowl his seamers.

Sherfane Rutherford, however, repaired the damage inflicted upon Peshawar Zalmi as the West Indies left-hander helped Bopara put on 64 in 56 balls during the highest partnership of this encounter. Rutherford’s 27-ball 27 was adorn with a brace of sixes — his main scoring strokes.

Bopara, meanwhile, batted with a sense of responsibility as the former England right-hander reached exactly 50from 44 balls until he chipping Shaheen straight to Rashid at mid-off. The 35-year-old’s 36th half-century in T20 cricket included six fours, including a couple of gorgeous drives through the cover.

Shaheen, who ended up with 3-14 in four overs, was deservingly adjudged the man-of-the-match.

Scoreboard

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Imam-ul-Haq c Dunk b Shaheen 0 1 0 0 0.00

Kamran Akmal c Salman Agha b S. Mirza 5 10 1 0 50.00  

Shoaib Malik c Dunk b Wiese 26 24 4 0 108.33

Haider Ali c Dunk b S. Mirza 0 1 0 0 0.00

R.S. Bopara c Rashid b Shaheen 50 44 6 0 113.63

S. Rutherford c Salman Agha b Shaheen 26 27 0 2 96.29

Amad Butt not out 23 11 1 2 209.09

Wahab Riaz not out 1 2 0 0 50.00

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-3) 9

TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 140

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0 (Imam), 2-18 (Kamran), 3-19 (Haider), 4-46 (Malik), 5-110 (Rutherford), 6-124 (Bopara).

DID NOT BAT: Saqib Mahmood, Mohammad Imran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

BOWLING: Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-1-14-3 (2w); Salman Mirza 4-0-35-2; Ahmed Daniyal 4-0-41-0 (1w); Rashid Khan 4-0-14-0; Wiese 4-0-30-1.

LAHORE QALANDARS:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Fakhar Zaman c Malik b Wahab 15 15 1 1 100.00

Sohail Akhtar c Malik b Mujeeb 14 14 2 0 100.00

Salman Ali Agha b Amad 21 16 4 0 131.25

Mohammad Hafeez not out 33 26 5 0 126.92

B.R. Dunk b Wahab 22 14 2 1 157.14

S.R. Patel b Saqib 8 11 0 0 72.72

D. Wiese lbw b Saqib 0 1 0 0 0.00

Rashid Khan not out 27 15 2 1 180.00

EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-1) 3

TOTAL (for six wkts, 18.3 overs) 143

FALL OF WKTS: 1-29 (Sohail), 2-38 (Fakhar), 3-53 (Salman Ali Agha), 4-89 (Dunk), 5-109 (Patel), 6-109 (Wiese).

DID NOT BAT: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ahmed Daniyal, Salman Mirza.

Bowling: Wahab Riaz 4-0-30-2 (1nb); Saqib Mahmood 4-0-22-2; Mohammad Imran 4-0-32-0; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4-0-25-1; Amad Butt 2.3-0-32-1.

RESULT: Lahore Qalandars won by four wickets.

UMPIRES: Shoaib Raza (Pakistan) and Rashid Riaz (Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: Zameer Haider (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Iftikhar Ahmed (Pakistan).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shaheen Shah Afridi (Lahore Qalandars).

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2021