Tanvir, Yasir fightback in vain as Zalmi win by 17 runs
February 24, 2017
DUBAI: A valiant fightback by Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Shah went in vain as Lahore Qalandars lost to Peshawar Zalmi by 17 runs in the 16th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2017 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Qalandars faced another shock implosion in their chase of 167, overshadowing a blistering start by Cameron Delport who fell for 32. Fakhar Zaman, captain Brendon McCullum, Umar Akmal, Grant Elliott, Mohammad Rizwan followed him to the pavilion soon after.
3.4 OUT! Muhammad Hafeez to Umar Akmal Run Out (Brendon McCullum)
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 24, 2017
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Sunil Narine tried putting up a fight and gave Qalandars a ray of hope, before falling for 21.
7.2 SIX! Muhammad Hafeez to Sunil Narine
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 24, 2017
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Qalandars' chase was revived by Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Shah, who blasted boundaries in attempt to chase down the widening gap between runs and balls and took the side to 149-9.
17.1 SIX! Hasan Ali to Sohail Tanvir
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 24, 2017
watch https://t.co/kZTZNtpHiW#PZvLQ #HBLPSL #AbKhelJamayGa pic.twitter.com/GSQh8NCKUU
Zalmi earlier started off shakily against Lahore Qalandars after losing opener Tamim Iqbal to a brilliant caught & bowled by Aamer Yamin, after Darren Sammy won the toss and opted to bat first.
1.1 OUT! Aamer Yamin to Tamim Iqbal
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 24, 2017
watch https://t.co/kZTZNtpHiW#PZvLQ #HBLPSL #AbKhelJamayGa pic.twitter.com/RH43Wt98D1
A rapid 58 by Kamran Akmal, however, stabilised the team. Shakib Al Hasan scored 30, Samuels and Sammy both made 17, while Afridi could manage 10. Yasir Shah took 2 wickets in return for 19 runs.
Lahore Qalandars, buoyed by their dramatic win against Islamabad United earlier this week, had a slow start in the second edition of the tournament, but have picked up pace and now rank second, behind Quetta Gladiators, with six points.
Darren Sammy’s Peshawar Zalmi, in contrast, have faced a setback with two back-to-back defeats against Islamabad United and Karachi Kings, respectively. Zalmi, who topped the table earlier this month, have now slumped to fourth spot on the points table with five points.
Head to head
Peshawar Zalmi defeated Lahore Qalandars by 3 wickets (with 18 balls remaining) in a low-scoring thriller on Feb 12 – a match defined by McCullum’s attacking captaincy which nearly pulled off what would have been the most dramatic victory in cricket, as Qalandars came close to defending just 59 runs.
The spotlight will be on Shahid Afridi, who scored a blistering 54 off 28 balls in Zalmi's most recent game but fell short of taking his team to victory against Karachi Kings.
Qalandars will be riding on Umar Akmal's red-hot form with the bat, as the batsman smashed 66 off 42 balls and took his team to the brink of victory against Islamabad United on Monday. The match was finished by Grant Elliott's six off the last over, a performance sealed by his 'Bat Drop'.
Playing XI
Zalmis have won the toss & are all set to bat first. Asghar & Samuels in for Zalmi while Mudassir for the Qalandars!#HBLPSL #PZvLQ pic.twitter.com/zrrjuCmjOm
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 24, 2017
