PSL 2018, Match 14 Review: Peshawar Zalmi register their third win of the tournament

This Saturday witnessed two appalling collapses, thanks to some incredible work from the Multan Sultans and the Peshawar Zalmi bowlers. Whilst Quetta Gladiators lost their last five wickets for just one run in the evening game Lahore Qalandars slumped to a new low by losing their last seven wickets for 29 runs and registering their fifth loss in five games.

Batting first, Fakhar Zaman provided them a splendid start. He kept smashing the ball to all parts and his partner Brendon McCullum kept watching the events unfold. McCullum remained relatively quiet whilst Zaman did the bulk of the damage. The duo added 42 runs for the opening wicket before McCullum fell in the fifth over.

Liam Dawson, who usually is a part-time bowler, manage to inflict a huge blow on the Qalandars. He picked up the wickets of Fakhar Zaman and Dinesh Ramdin off consecutive deliveries to pull things back into his side’s control. Agha Salman and Sohail Akhtar tried to consolidate the innings a little, but a catastrophic collapse followed.

Both these players fell in a span of 6 balls and their side was struggling at 73/5. Umar Akmal tried to chip in with a few crucial runs, but the bowlers dried up things very badly. The batsmen had to work incredibly hard to even sneak through for a single and the bowlers too were right on cue. The last five batsmen could manage only 8 runs amongst themselves, resulting in another poor batting show from the Qalandars.

They got bowled out for a paltry 100 in 17.2 overs. Liam Dawson, surprisingly, was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 3/20 and emerging youngster Hasan Ali was impressive with his 3/22 spell in 3.2 overs. Barring Fakhar Zaman’s 17-ball 30, which included 4 fours and 2 sixes, the Qalandars barely had anything to cheer about in this innings.

Iqbal and Akmal finish off things in style

Just the other day, the Qalandars came agonizingly close to winning their first game and eventually lost in the super over. That defeat was certainly very demoralizing and the bad part was, their bad morale had an impact on the result of this game as well. Their batsmen gave up at a very crucial juncture and their bowlers had very little to work with, which eventually led to another huge defeat.

Tamim Iqbal and Kamran Akmal have all the experience in the world to get through this situation and they did so in some style. Although both of them are well known for them attacking instincts, they played according to the need and the way the pitch was behaving. Eventually, their approach was just about good enough to get them out in grandstand fashion.

Kamran Akmal registerd a valiant fifty, scoring 57 runs in 47 balls. His innings took off in the last few overs of the run chase where he was well set. His innings included 7 fours and 2 sixes. Tamim Iqbal remained calm at the other end, accumulating a decent 37 off 35 balls. which included 4 boundaries.

The Qalandars suffered a horrendous 10-wicket defeat with 38 balls to spare. It was a clinical performance from the defending champions and with this win, they took the third spot on the points table.

Brief Scores

Lahore Qalandars: 100 all out in 17.2 overs (Fakhar Zaman 30; Liam Dawson 3/20, Hasan Ali 3/22)

Peshawar Zalmi: 104/0 in 13.4 overs (Kamran Akmal 57*, Tamim Iqbal 37*)

Player of the match: Liam Dawson