Islamabad United Defeated Peshawar Zalmi To Make It To The Second Eliminator Of PSL 7

LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Feb, 2022 ) :Islamabad United defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 5 wickets thanks to the excellent batting of Alex Hales and made it to the second eliminator of the PSL 7 here on Thursday night at the Gadaffi stadium.

Islamabad United achieved the target of 170 runs for the loss of five wickets with three balls remaining to keep their hopes alive for make it the final of the event.

In pursuit of the target, opener Alex Hales played an innings of 62 runs to give a strong start to Islamabad United. During this time, he shared 34 and 43 runs with Will Jax and Shadab Khan respectively. Will Jax made (11) and Shadab Khan scored (22). Alex Hales' innings of 49 balls included 3 sixes and 6 fours.

Asif Ali was also dismissed for 7 runs. In such a situation, Faheem Ashraf along with Azam Khan decided to take all the bowlers of Peshawar Zalmai to task and shared a 41-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Islamabad United needed 10 runs off the last 6 balls to win but Benny Howell made the match interesting by bowling out LBW Azam Khan on the first ball of the last over of the match. He was dismissed for 28 off 22 balls. Newcomer Liam Dawson hit a six and a four off the next two balls to lead his team to victory. He remained unbeaten on 10 off two balls.

Faheem Ashraf remained unbeaten on 19 with the help of 2 fours and a six.

Salman Irshad bowled well and showed the way to the pavilion for three runs for 31 runs. Khalid Usman and Benny Howell took one wicket each.

Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz won the toss and elected to bat first. Peshawar Zalmi scored 169 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs due to solid half-centuries by opener Kamran Akmal and veteran batsman Shoaib Malik and established a 40-run partnership for the wicket.

Kamran Akmal was dismissed for 58 off 39 balls with the help of 2 sixes and 7 fours. Shoaib Malik played an innings of 55 runs with 2 sixes and 4 fours. Peshawar third notable batsman was Hussain Talat. He hit five fours off 15 balls and scored 28 runs.

Hassan Ali led three players to the pavilion for 30 runs. Faheem Ashraf and Shadab Khan took one wicket each.

Playing XIs: Peshawar Zalmi: Mohammad Haris, Yasir Khan, +Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Haider Ali, Benny Howell, Hussain Talat, *Wahab Riaz, Khalid Usman, Salman Irshad, Ali Majid.

Islamabad United: Alex Hales, Will Jacks, *Shadab Khan, +Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Liam Dawson, Hasan Ali, Athar Mahmood, Zahid Mahmood, Waqas Maqsood.