PSL 9: Babar Azam opens up on loss against Islamabad United

Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam has opened up on his side's defeat against Islamabad United in the second eliminator of the ongoing ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 9).

Expressing his views after the match, the star batter blamed his side's "ordinary" bowling performance in the later half of the second innings for their loss against United.

"I think we were in a good position after 10 overs. But our bowling after that was very bad. We weren't up to the mark and we thought we had won the match," Babar said while acknowledging that his side was initially ahead but lost its edge due to ordinary bowling performance.

"Credit to Imad Wasim and Haider Ali for how they played," Babar hailed the duo on their partnership which proved crucial in United's victory.

Taking to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the 29-year-old expressed gratitude to the fans for their support and reaffirmed the team's commitment to  "come back stronger".

During the match, United had a horrible start, losing three wickets within four overs with only 21 runs on the board as they attempted to chase down Zalmi's 186-run target.

In-form opener Martin Guptill briefly fought back, notably scoring 22 runs in an over against Saim Ayub, before being dismissed by Khurram Shehzad on the final delivery of the batting powerplay.

Guptill remained a notable contributor for the United, scoring 34 runs off 21 balls, including five boundaries and a six.

With the scoreboard showing 50/4 after six overs, Azam Khan partnered with Imad in an attempt to stage a recovery.

The pair batted sensibly for around five overs until Luke Wood dismissed Azam (22) on the last delivery of the 11th over, hampering United's recovery efforts but Imad and Haider guided them to a thrilling win.

This is United's first PSL final since 2018 with the team set to lock horns with Multan Sultans on March 18 at the same venue.

Earlier, Saim Ayub's flamboyant 73-run innings, coupled with Mohammad Haris' 40, propelled Zalmi to 185/5.

Naseem Shah led the bowling attack for United, claiming figures of 3/30 in his four overs, while Shadab and Obed McCoy chipped in with one wicket each.