'We will take away Ben Dunk's bubblegum' - Peshawar Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz ahead of the clash

Peshawar Zalmi will take on Lahore Qalandars in their next fixture in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 and ahead of the crunch game on Tuesday, Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz has made an interesting observation. The ace left-arm seamer, who replaced Darren Sammy as the skipper midway into the tournament, revealed his plans to tackle the Qalandars’ explosive batsman Ben Dunk. The left-hand Australian batsman slammed 99* in just 40 balls against Karachi Kings in Lahore on Sunday.

Qalandars are currently lagging at No.5 of the points table with three wins from seven outings and will need some good victories to qualify for the playoffs. Dunk’s match-winning knock against the Kings will keep Zalmi worried about his form. Riaz’s side has four wins from eight games and would like to finish off its league games in style to qualify for the last-four stage. With nine points, Zalmi are placed second in the points table after Multan Sultans who have 11 points from seven games.

But how does Wahab Riaz plan to slow down Dunk?

To this, the Zalmi skipper came up with a funny reply: “We will take away his [Ben Dunk] bubblegum,” he told the media ahead of the match at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

On a serious note, however, Riaz didn’t divulge the plans to contain Dunk. “Ben Dunk is playing exceedingly well but we will go in with a plan to tackle him, although I can’t share that with you right now,” the 34-year-old, who has picked nine wickets in seven games in PSL 2020, added. Dunk though has played only five T20Is but he is a specialist in the shortest format with over 3,000 runs in 131 T20s with a strike rate of over 133.

Despite his team having a good ranking in the points table, Riaz said there was no place for complacency. He said it was still early days to forecast who would qualify for the playoffs eventually. He said the Zalmi would not leave anything to chance and try to win their remaining two games to book a place in the final four.