KARACHI: Wahab Riaz and Saqib Mahmood shared the bowling honours with seven wickets between them as Peshawar Zalmi completed a six-wicket rout of Islamabad United in their HBL Pakistan Super League encounter at the National Stadium here on Saturday night.

For the 10th consecutive game, the side chasing the target won the match after the two-time former PSL winners Islamabad United were skittled out for 118 in 17.1 overs — the lowest total in a completed innings, which came exactly one week after Quetta Gladiators mustered 121 in the sixth edition’s opening fixture against defending champions Karachi Kings.

Peshawar initially wobbled during the run chase, losing both openers — Imam-ul-Haq (0) and Kamran Akmal (3) — for six runs, but Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s run-a-ball innings of 46 (four fours and two sixes) and his 63-run partnership with Shoaib Malik (29 not out) eased the nerves before Haider put the result beyond doubt by blasting 36 from only 18 balls (three sixes and three fours) in a brisk stand of 47 with Malik.

Peshawar’s third triumph propels them to the top as they get a three-day break before taking on Karachi Kings in the afternoon fixture on Wednesday, while Karachi Kings meet Lahore Qalandars in their derby clash on Sunday evening.

Wahab, the Peshawar captain, led from the front by grabbing four wickets for 17 runs — the Pakistan left-arm speedster’s best return in PSL — while England seamer Saqib bagged the prized scalp of Alex Hales before finishing with miserly figures of 3-12 in 2.1 overs as Islamabad United folded up for their third lowest team score.

The whole spectacle was in sharp contrast to the afternoon match bet­ween Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans during which 393 runs were made. But after the sunset the same pitch suddenly became tough for batting as the ball swung appreciably under lights.

Shadab Khan, the Islamabad captain, was brave in saying that he would like to bat first just to change the trend seen so far in previous nine fixtures. Shadab had his wish fulfilled despite not winning the toss but even he couldn’t have fathomed what was to transpire.

Barring opener Hales — who was fifth out for 41 (off 27 balls, five fours and one six) in the 11th — it was a sorry sight for the Islamabad United dugout as just Hussain Talat (22 off 15 balls) and Asif Ali (19) entered double figures.

Wahab, who picked up three wickets for four runs in nine deliveries at the backend of the innings, was declared man-of-the-match.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

P.R. Stirling b Wahab 1
A.D. Hales c sub b Saqib 41
P.D. Salt b Saqib 9
Faheem Ashraf c K-Cadmore b Umaid 2
Shadab Khan run out 6
Hussain Talat lbw b Mujeeb 22
Iftikhar Ahmed c K-Cadmore b Wahab 7
Asif Ali c Malik b Wahab 19
Hasan Ali lbw b Wahab 7
Mohammad Wasim c Kamran b Saqib 1
Fawad Ahmed not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1) 3
TOTAL (all out, 17.1 overs) 118
FALL OF WKTS: 1-2 (Stirling), 2-38 (Salt), 3-41 (Faheem), 4-55 (Shadab), 5-82 (Hales), 6-86 (Hussain), 7-109 (Iftikhar), 8-111 (Asif), 9-118 (Hasan), 10-118 (Wasim).
BOWLING: Wahab Riaz 4-0-17-4; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4-0-28-1; Mohammad Imran 3-0-28-0 (1w); Saqib Mahmood 2.1-0-12-3; Umaid Asif 4-0-31-1.

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Imam-ul-Haq c Faheem b Hasan 0
Kamran Akmal lbw b Wasim 3
T. Kohler-Cadmore c Salt b Fawad 46
Shoaib Malik not out 29
Haider Ali c Salt b Hasan 36
S. Rutherford not out 6

EXTRAS (W-2) 2
TOTAL (for four wkts, 17.1 overs) 122
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0 (Imam), 2-6 (Kamran), 3-69 (Kohler-Cadmore), 4-116 (Haider).
DID NOT BAT: Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif, Mujeeb Ur Rahman Saqib Mahmood, Mohammad Imran.
BOWLING: Hasan Ali 4-0-14-2 (1w); Mohammad Wasim 3-0-26-1 (1w); Faheem Ashraf 2-0-14-0; Fawad Ahmed 4-0-40-1; Shadab Khan 4-0-23-0; Iftikhar Ahmed 0.1-0-5-0.

RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by six wickets.
UMPIRES: Asif Yaqoob (Pakistan) and Shozab Raza (Pakistan).
TV UMPIRE: Zameer Haider (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Ali Naqvi (Pakistan).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Wahab Riaz (Peshawar Zalmi).
SUNDAY’S FIXTURE: Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars (7:00pm PST).

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2021