Lahore (SBR): Peshawar Zalmi hunted down the 130-run target in 16.4 overs with seven wickets in hand against Lahore Qalandars as they registered their second win of the tournament here at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Thursday night.
Skipper Babar Azam and Hussain Talat struck unbeaten half-centuries to seal the much-needed triumph for their team. Peshawar Zalmi pacers had earlier pegged the Lahore Qalandars batting line-up by taking eight wickets for 83 runs.
In the chase, Lahore Qalandars gave Zalmi early scare by snaring the wickets of Saim Ayub and Tom Kohler-Cadmore in the first two overs with 11 runs on the board. Mohammad Haris, batting at no.4, broke the shackles as he struck one four and two sixes before falling for a 16-ball 20 at the end of fifth over.
Babar (56 not out, 42b, 7x4s, 1x6) and Hussain (51 not out, 37b, 5x4s, 1x6) joined forces at 40-3 and stitched an unbeaten 83-run stand to see Zalmi home with 20 balls to spare. Both the batters brought up their half-centuries off 37 balls each.
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi pacers ran riot with the ball as they reduced Lahore Qalandars to 35-5 in the Powerplay. Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique fell to player of the match Alzarri Joseph, while Luke Wood removed Asif Ali and Daryl Mitchell in the third over.
Pace sensation Ali Raza joined the fellow pacers on the wickets column soon in sixth over as he dismissed Sam Billings. Skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi (16, 10b, 2x6s) came in to bat at no.6 and was caught behind off Hussain’s right-arm medium pace with his team reeling at 44-6 in 7.1 overs.
Joseph returned in 11th over to dent Qalandars again as he removed Rishad Hossain, who had stitched a 23-run stand with no.7 batter Sikandar Raza. The Zimbabwean all-rounder lifted his side from 67-7 to 129 all out in 19.2 overs with a fighting 37-ball 52 with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Sikandar, who fell to Hussain in 20th over, was provided brief support by Haris Rauf (10, 14b, 1x6) and Asif Afridi (6 not out, 11b, 1x4) with whom he added 36 and 25 runs, respectively.
For Zalmi, Joseph had returned figures of 4-1-15-3, while Hussain Talat and Luke Wood dismissed two batters each. Ali and Arif Yaqoob had one wicket each to their name as well.
Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi now have four points each on the points table after playing five games and are placed third and fourth, respectively.
