LAHORE: Peshawar Zalmi suffered a five-wicket loss and were eliminated by Islamabad United in the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as the Shadab Khan-led side battle for their place in the final.
United will now face Lahore Qalandars in tie 2 tomorrow (Friday), with the winner of the match taking on Multan Sultans in the final.
In the final over, United required 10 runs, and Azam Khan came out on the first ball, after that Liam Dawson finished the thrilling clash with ease as he scored six and four on the next two balls.
The do-or-die match between the two teams was a see-saw battle with both teams unwilling to give up until the very end. The Zalmi bowlers hit the mark with their line as they eliminated starter Will Jacks by 11 runs.
Alex Hales heralded his return strongly as he kept the chase intact and played according to the situation.
United were sailing at one stage with Hales looking well established, but it was Salman Irshad’s two wickets that brought Zalmi back into the game.
He took out Hales with a brilliant yorker and took the wicket from dangerous-looking Shadab Khan for 22 runs and Asif Ali who was on seven.
Azam Khan, who scored 28 runs with two sixes, and Faheem Ashraf, who scored 19 with two tops, brought United closer. But in the last over when 10 runs were required, Azam came out at the wrong time, but Liam Dawson finished the game on hits.
In bowling, Wahab Riaz was dry-cleaned by conceding 52 runs in four overs, while Salman went 3-31.
Previously, Peshawar Zalmi scored 169 runs for the loss of five wickets.
United’s bowlers kept things tight as Zalmi’s batsmen didn’t score runs quickly as they lost in-form starter Mohammad Haris by 12 runs to Faheem Ashraf.
Starter Kamran Akmal continued to score runs, while Yasir Khan was also eliminated for eight runs. Karman took 58 runs off United captain Shadab Khan, with Zalmi’s score of 98 runs on the board.
Shoaib Malik and Hussain Talat carved out a crucial 56-run position to take Zalmi to the 150-run mark. Hussain scored 28 runs while Malik scored 55.
For United, Hasan Ali took three wickets for 30 runs in four overs, while Shadab and Faheem each picked one.