tawandamusarurwa
Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE cricket all-rounder Sikandar Raza failed to replicate his heroics from last week, as his Pakistan Super League (PSL) outfit Lahore Qalanders went down by 35 runs to Peshawar Zalmi on Tuesday.
Peshawar Zalmi’s Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first.
The team went on to score 207 runs during the allotted 20 overs, with the opening pair of Saim Ayub and Azam setting the pace.
The two openers each scored half-centuries and starred in a 107-run first-wicket stand off 66 balls, which gave their team an early advantage that they did not relinquish for the rest of the match.
Ayub top-scored for Peshawar Zalmi with 68 runs off 36 balls, while Azam chipped in with a 41-ball 50 runs.
Lahore Qalanders skipper Shaheen Afridi was the pick of his side’s bowlers as he claimed four wickets for 31 runs, while Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan and Rashid Khan chipped in with two wickets apiece.
Raza, on the other hand, only managed to bowl one over and finished the match without a single wicket.
Lahore Qalanders, who are the Pakistan Super League log leaders, however, failed to chase down their target as the top order simply did not show up.
In a similar way to their 17-run win against the Quetta Gladiators last week, Lahore Qalanders found themselves in a spot of bother at 27 for four inside the first six overs, before the middle order brought some respectability to the chase.
Two half-centuries from Afridi and Hussain Talat turned the match into a contest, as the pair put on 114 runs for the fifth wicket off 65 balls.
Talat top scored for his team with a blistering 63 runs off 37 balls and shared yet another 27-run sixth-wicket partnership with Raza, before edging an Arshad Iqbal delivery straight to Haseebullah Khan behind the stumps.
Afridi scored 52 runs off 36 balls, while Raza chipped in with a seven-ball 20 runs.
Their efforts were in vain as Lahore Qalanders could only amass 172 all out, which gave Peshawar Zalmi a 35-run victory.
Despite the loss, Raza’s Qalanders stay on top of the PSL log standings with 12 points from eight games, the same number of points and games played as second-placed Islamabad United.
The result, however, eliminated Karachi Kings from the PSL and left Quetta Gladiators in a precarious position.
Online Reporter