On Tuesday night, Multan Sultans lost four runs to Peshawar Zalmi in a last-over thriller at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi. In the 21st HBL PSL 9 encounter, Peshawar Zalmi overcame the table-toppers despite Iftikhar Ahmed’s unbeaten half-century. Babar Azam leads Zalmi to second HBL PSL 9 triumph.
After batting first, Peshawar Zalmi scored 204-5. An 84-run opening partnership by Saim Ayub and Babar Azam got the team going. They scored 21 runs off three boundaries and a six against Mohammad Ali in the third over. Both Zalmi openers hit Iftikhar, Khushdil, and Jordan with boundaries in the following overs, taking advantage of pitch constraints. Their 71 runs in six overs is HBL PSL 9’s highest powerplay score.
Babar Azam leads Zalmi to second HBL PSL 9 triumph over Sultans
Saim hit two straight maximums off Usama Mir in the eighth over. Usama earned his revenge by leg-before wicketing Saim (46, 22b, 3x4s, 5x6s) on the last delivery. Tom Kohler-Cadmore (5, 9b) played two quiet overs before Tayyab Tahir caught him at deep midwicket to give Usama his second wicket.
Haseebullah and Babar shared a 51-run third-wicket stand, hitting at least one boundary each over. Babar reached his 85th T20 half-century in 35 deliveries in the 14th over. In the next over, Usama bowled Babar into his stumps, forcing him to return after a brilliant 64 off 40 balls with seven fours and two sixes.
The fourth wicket fell for Zalmi with 166 on the third ball of the 17th over as Jordan rocked Haseebullah’s (31, 20b, 3x4s, 1×6) stumps. Zalmi scored 204-5 thanks to unbeaten scores from Rovman Powell (23 not out, 15b, 1×4, 2x6s) and Aamir Jamal (12, 5b, 1×4, 1×6).
Usama, the HBL PSL 9 leading wicket-taker, took three wickets to reach 18 while Jordan took two. Saim opened the bowling for Zalmi again and was caught for a boundary and a six by Mohammad Rizwan, showing his purpose from the start.
In his HBL PSL debut, Mehran Mumtaz dismissed Reeza Hendricks for five runs in 10 balls in the fifth over to break the 35-run opening partnership. Sultan scored 40 runs off one wicket in the powerplay.
Jamal caught the ball at mid-on and ran out Rizwan (32, 24b, 2x4s, 1×6) in the ninth over. Mehran lost his second wicket in the next over when Salman Irshad dropped Tayyab at short third, costing 20 runs. To make matters worse, Tayyab struck Salman for two fours in the next over.
The Sultans were further troubled by Aamir’s 12th over wickets: Dawid Malan (19, 19b, 1×4) was caught by Asif at deep backward square, and Saim caught Tayyab (26, 18b, 4x4s) at deep square.
The 16th over saw Khushdil (11, 10b, 1×4) trapped behind by Naveen, putting Jordan in the middle. Multan Sultans fell four runs short after Jordan and Iftikhar’s unbroken 75 runs off 28 deliveries in the sixth-wicket partnership.
Iftikhar, who reached his half-century in the penultimate over, scored an unbroken 60 from 27 with four boundaries and five maximums. His partner Jordan smashed an unbeaten 20 on 12 with three fours and two sixes.
