Emirates T20 Trophy, Match 2 Review: Peshawar Zalmi cruise to victory against Durham

The second match of the Emirates T20 Trophy saw the Peshawar Zalmi take on Durham. It turned out to be a rather one-sided affair as the Pakistani team was all over the Englishmen. The conditions were more suitable for them and they made full use of it. First, the batsmen put up a sizeable score on a slow pitch and then the bowlers did the rest to inflict an easy win.

The team from Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first and got off to a blazing start when Muhammad Arif smashed back to back boundaries off the first 2 balls. The first over from Chris Rushworth went for 13 runs which was followed by a maiden over from James Weighell. Rushworth made a stunning comeback in the next over when he knocked over Arif with a lovely in-swinger and the first wicket was down for just 14 runs.

The bowlers kept a check on the run scoring and the batsmen could collect only 9 runs in the next 3 overs. Nabi Gul was taking his time to settle while Salman Afridi was struggling to keep the scoreboard ticking. After the powerplay ended, they reached 32/1 and were in the need to up the ante. But in the pursuit, Afridi was trapped in front of the wickets by George Harding in the 9th over. His misery at the crease ended with a score of 15 off 21 balls.

The skipper Iftikhar Ahmed walked in at number 4 but the run rate was languishing around 5 until the 11th over. Iftikhar too didn’t find it easy going straight away and hence the onus was on Nabi to lift the pace. He hit a couple of boundaries to bring scoring rate close to 6. But his skipper did not stay with him for long as he played a delivery outside off from Brydon Carse on to his stumps and his innings lasted for 18 balls for only 10 runs.

The score read 79/3 after 14 overs and they were in desperate need to play some shots. Nabi then took it upon himself and hit 2 sixes and a four in the next over off Harding. He also brought up his half-century in the process off 40 balls. In the following over, he sent one more out of the park off Carse but the bowler replied back beautifully to show him the road to the pavilion very next ball. Nabi went back for a well made 57 off 44 with 2 fours and 5 sixes.

Adil Ameen and Musadiq Ahmed collected 12 runs off the next over to keep the momentum going. Musadiq then skied one from Weighell which the keeper grabbed safely. Adil along with Mohammad Irfan added some vital runs at the end and took the score to a fighting 143/6 with Irfan getting run out of the last ball. It was not a massive score but the bowlers had something to play for.

Durham in reply began cautiously and scored just 3 runs off the first over. The veteran Paul Collingwood then struck two consecutive boundaries in the second to bring some substance to the chase. He along with Adam Hickey took the score safely to 38 without any loss at the end of the powerplay.

The opening partnership kept flourishing even further as they brought up the fifty runs stand off 47 balls. They had reached 59 after 9 overs but just then Hickey was sent back by Asif Ali for 21 off 26 balls. In the very next over, Collingwood also followed him back to the dressing room as he was found short of the crease while looking to convert a single into two. It was a suicidal effort as a decent innings of 41 off 36 balls was cut short.

It was followed by 3 quite overs and the required run mounted over 9. Michael Richardson failed to time a flick shot off Asif Ali and gave an easy catch back to the bowler and could not trouble the scorers much. Graham Clark was the next to go when he hit one from Imran Khan straight to the gully fielder. They were tottering at 84/4 with just 5 overs to go.

Jack Burnham slammed a six to Irfanullah Shah but had his stumps shattered courtesy a brutal yorker from the bowler. They were losing the plot with the wickets falling at regular intervals and required 52 runs off 24 balls with 5 wickets in hand. The slow nature of the pitch didn’t help their cause and the Zalmis looked on course for a victory.

A calamity hit the Durham side as they lost 3 wickets in the next over. Imran Khan accounted for the dismissals of Carse, Stuart Poynter and Weighell within a space of 4 balls to close out any chances of a comeback from the English team. They were reduced to 94/8 with just 3 more overs to be bowled and there was only formality left in the game for the Zalmis.

Durham lost another wicket in run out in the 18th over when Rushworth was found guilty of some lazy running. Imran was then hit for a six and a four by Ryan Pringle but the bowler got him out caught soon to pick up a five-wicket haul. The Durham side was bowled out for 108 with 7 balls to spare that handed Zalmis a victory by 35 runs.

Brief Scores:

Peshawar Zalmi: Nabi Gul 57 (44b), Adil Ameen 22 (15b) | Brydon Carse – 4-0-23-2

Durham: Paul Collingwood 41 (36b), Adam Hickey 21 (26b) | Imran Khan jnr 3.5-0-24-5

Peshawar Zalmi won by 35 runs