LAHORE: Peshawar Zalmi needed their skipper to stand tall. Babar Azam duly obliged.

In front of his home crowd, against the home team, Babar helped his side chase down a low but tricky score at the Gaddafi Stadium with an unbeaten 56 as Zalmi crushed Lahore Qalandars by seven wickets to record their second victory of the HBL Pakistan Super League season on Thursday.

Zalmi’s four-pronged pace attack had laid the platform after they tore into the Qalandars line-up, reducing them to 34-5 at one point before the home side managed to post 129 all out thanks to Sikandar Raza’s half-century after being put into bat in the first game of the season in Lahore.

The Qalandars then got a sniff when they reduced Zalmi to 40-3 but Babar proved to be a thorn in their ambitions of registering their third win of the campaign.

The right-hander struck seven fours and a six in his 42-ball knock with Hussain Talat providing him able support with a half-century; the duo sharing an unbroken 93-run stand as Zalmi reached their target with 20 balls to spare.

Hussain (51 not out), who also took two wickets earlier, hit the winning runs, belting Haris Rauf for a four to reach his half century off 37 deliveries. It was his fifth boundary while he also hit a six.

The victory moved Zalmi level on four points with third-placed Qalandars, only behind on net run rate, with both teams having played five matches each.

WIth Zalmi pacers on fire, the Qalandars were on the ropes from the start.

Fakhar Zaman was the first to depart after scoring two boundaries as Alzarri Joseph cleaned him up with a good length ball with the batter trying to make room for a cut shot.

Asif Ali, who was promoted to the opening slot, became left-armer Luke Wood’s first victim, as the England bowler brought one back into the right-hander to trap him lbw.

Daryl Mitchell then skied a Wood (2-25) bouncer to square-leg before Joseph (3-16) returned to get Abdullah Shafique for a duck in a wicket-maiden fourth over.

Young sensation Ali Raza got on the act in the last over of the powerplay, sending back Sam Billings, whose leading edge flew to Babar at mid-off with the Qalandars in dire straits.

Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, who had come in at six, lofted Wood down the ground for a six in the next over, but became Hussain’s first victim four balls later.

Hussain gave away 16 runs in the 10th over, with Rishad Hossain dancing down the wicket to clear long-on before slicing the right-armer for a boundary and seeing Sikandar Raza do the same at the other end as Qalandars reached 62-6 at halfway stage.

Raza, the last recognised Qalandars batter remaining, then pulled Joseph for four more and hit leg-spinner Arif Yaqoob for a high and handsome maximum in the 12th over.

Qalandars’ next six came nine balls later, Haris bludgeoning Ali over long-on. They finally crossed the 100-run mark when Raza beautifully lifted Arif straight down the ground in the 16th over, only for the spinner to castle Haris two deliveries later.

Haris’ dismissal, however, didn’t affect Raza, who dispatched Mitchell Owen’s medium pace for two boundaries through the off-side before hooking for a six to bring up his half century in 30 balls.

But just eight runs coming in the next two overs spoiled Raza’s efforts to get Qalandars to a formidable total, before the Zimbabwean perished with Owen striking in the last over.

With a low target to defend, the Qalandars needed some inspiration and Shaheen provided it by striking in the first over; Saim Ayub finding Haris at mid-off.

Babar flicked Haris for a four on the first ball he faced but soon lost another partner, the incoming Tom Kohler-Cadmore seeing his leg-stump uprooted by a superb inswinger by the right-armer.

The incoming Mohammad Haris had an inside edge onto his pads run away for four immediately upon arriving as the Qalandars burned a review trying to get him lbw.

Shaheen conceded just a run in the third over to keep the pressure on but it soon dissipated when debutant Mohammad Azab was brought in to bowl the fourth over with Babar helping himself to two boundaries and Haris getting one.

Haris launched Shaheen for a couple of sixes in the next over — the first over third man and the second over extra cover — only to be outfoxed by a slower one and finding Raza at cover.

An eventful sixth over saw Babar’s top-edge fly for a six before the Zalmi skipper was adjudged lbw off the next ball. A review overturned the decision and Babar finished the over with a glorious drive for four with Zalmi ending the powerplay at 52-3.

The Qalandars needed a breakthrough to have any chance but Babar and Hussain stood firm, raising their 50-run partnership off 39 balls. Babar raised his half-century off 37 balls in the 14th over and by then, the game was done.

SCOREBOARD

LAHORE QALANDARS:

Fakhar Zaman b Joseph 10

Asif Ali lbw b Wood 4

Abdullah Shafique c Wood b Joseph 0

Daryl Mitchell c Samad b Wood 2

Sam Billings c Babar b Ali 9

Shaheen Afridi c Haris b Hussain 16

Sikandar Raza c Owen b Hussain 52

Rishad Hossain c Haris b Joseph 13

Haris Rauf b Arif 10

Asif Afridi not out 6

Mohammad Azab run out 0

EXTRAS (LB-4, NB-1, W-2) 7

TOTAL (all out, 19.2 overs) 129

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-15 (Fakhar), 2-15 (Asif), 3-17 (Mitchell), 4-21 (Abdullah), 5-34 (Billings), 6-44 (Shaheen), 7-67 (Rishad), 8-103 (Haris), 9-128 (Raza)

BOWLING: Wood 4-0-25-2, Joseph 4-1-15-3, Ali 4-0-25-1 (2w), Hussain 2.2-0-18-2 (1nb), Arif 3-0-24-1, Owen 2-0-18-0

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Saim Ayub c Haris b Shaheen 2

Babar Azam not out 56

Tom Kohler-Cadmore b Haris 0

Mohammad Haris c Raza b Shaheen 20

Hussain Talat not out 51

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-2, W-1) 4

TOTAL (for three wickets, 16.4 overs) 133

DID NOT BAT: Mitchell Owen, Abdul Samad, Alzarri Joseph, Luke Wood, Arif Yaqoob, Ali Raza

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-2 (Saim), 2-7 (Kohler-Cadmore), 3-40 (Haris)

BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-22-2, Haris 3.4-0-39-1, Azab 2-0-23-0 (2nb), Mitchell 1-0-5-0, Rishad 2-0-18-0, A. Afridi 3-0-19-0 (1w), Raza 1-0-6-0

RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by seven wickets.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Alzarri Joseph

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2025