SHARJAH: Lahore Qalandars suffered more humiliation when Peshawar Zalmi thrashed them in the 14th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with a 10-wicket win at Sharjah Stadium here on Saturday night. It was Lahore Qalandars their fifth straight defeat in the third edition of the tournament. Chasing a modest target of 101, Peshawar openers Kamran Akmal and Tamim Iqbal chased down the target of 101 for the Mohammad Hafeez-led men in yellow with ease. Akmal scored 57, while his Bangladeshi counterpart played a knock of 37 runs. Tamim and Akmal had helped their side to 41-0 after 6 overs. By the end of 10th over, Peshawar had 70 runs on board without a loss and the game was as good as over. No doubt, the chase was calm, clinical, mature and professional. Lahore’s bowlers were toothless, their fielding uninspired, their captain out of ideas – and their side very likely out of the tournament already.
Earlier, in what could be called the continuation of shambolic batting of Lahore, only five of their players managed to enter double figures. The collapse this time was even more dramatic than previous games, tempered only by its predictability. Lahore, after winning the toss and electing to bat, went down from 57-2 to 100 all out. Opener Fakhar Zaman finished the innings with the top score of 30 off 17 with the help of four fours and two sixes.
For Peshawar, Liam Dawson, Hasan Ali took three wickets each, fast bowler Wahab Riaz bagged two while Sameen Gul got one wicket. Mohammad Hafeez led the Peshawar camp as skipper Darren Sammy has been ruled out for at least a week after suffering an injury during Thursday’s match against Quetta Gladiators. Hasan Ali returned to the Peshawar playing XI, after sitting out earlier matches due to injury.
Brief scores: Peshawar Zalmi 104 for 0 (Kamran Akmal 57 not out, Tamim Iqbal 37 not out) beat Lahore Qalandars 100 (Fakhar Zaman 30, Liam Dawson 3-20, Hasan Ali 3-22) by ten wickets.
Published in Daily Times, March 5th 2018.