LAHORE: Peshawar Zalmi knocked Islamabad United out of the Pakistan Super League-8 after winning the Eliminator-1 by 12 runs at Gaddafi Stadium here on Thursday night. Chasing a formidable victory target of 184, Islamabad could muster only 171 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted overs. Peshawar will now take on Lahore Qalandars and fight for a spot in the final on Friday (today) at the same venue. During the run-chase, Azmatullah Omarzai provided an early wicket to Peshawar as Rahmanullah Gurbaz was sent back to the dugout after scoring 10 runs. However, Alex Hales and Sohaib Maqsood took the attack to the opposition with some clean hitting. The duo added 115 runs for the second wicket partnership and put their team in the driving seat. The century stand was finally broken by Aamer Jamal, who clean-bowled Maqsood but not before the right-hander had scored 60 runs off 48 balls. After Maqsood’s departure, Peshawar didn’t look back and took control of the match with some clever bowling and regular wickets. Azam Khan (2) also went back to the dugout without a significant contribution. He was sent packing by Salman Irshad after being beaten for pace. Hales also followed soon after as Jamal nailed a yorker to shatter the English batter’s stumps. The right-hander scored 57 runs off 37 balls with the help of nine boundaries. Faheem Ashraf, who slipped while trying to return to the crease, was run out after a direct hit from Jamal. Captain Shadab scored unbeaten 26 runs in 12 balls but that was not enough to get his side over the line. Irshad was the pick of the Peshawar bowlers with figures of 2-18 in four overs.
Earlier, Babar Azam scored a sparkling 39-ball 64 — that included 10 fours after his side was inserted. This was his fifth half-century of the current edition. Babar has now amassed 480 runs at an average of 53.33 and a strike rate of 148.60. The Peshawar captain stitched strong partnerships worth 60 off 28 balls with Saim Ayub (23 off 16), 36 off 24 balls with Haseebullah (15 off 11) and 41 off 26 with Mohammad Haris (34 off 17, three fours and two sixes) to set a platform for the middle-order batters to score big, but the Islamabad bowlers brought their side back in the match. Shadab took two wickets, sending back Haseebullah and Babar, and gave away 40 runs, while Fazalhaq Farooqi, Faheem, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim Jnr took a wicket each.