Daily Times

KARACHI: Fakhar Zaman and bowlers joined hands to help Lahore Qalandars defeat Peshawar Zalmi by 29 runs in the ninth match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) VII and push their team to the second spot on the points table. Chasing a formidable 200-run target, Peshawar could muster only 170 for the loss of nine wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Early in the Peshawar innings, Lahore skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi set the tone for his team by dismissing their opener Hazratullah Zazai for zero in the third ball of the innings. The loss of the early wicket put Peshawar on the backfoot and regular wickets claimed by the Lahore bowlers never allowed Peshawar to take control of the game. For Peshawar, Kamran Akmal and Haidar Ali made 41 and 49 runs, respectively, but the team were unable to catch up to the high required run rate. Zaman Khan took three wickets for Lahore, while skipper Shaheen and David Weise took two wickets each. Rashid Khan took a wicket as well.

Earlier, Lahore openers Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique put the Peshawar bowlers to the sword. Fakhar made his third successive fifty-plus scores by reaching his half-century in the 10th over. However, in the same over, Usman Qadir dismissed Shafique for 41 runs to break the opening stand. Fakhar continued his attack on the Peshawar bowlers before being dismissed by Hussain Talat in the 13th over for 66. By the time the left-hander was dismissed, he had given the platform to his team to set up a huge target for Peshawar. In the next few overs, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hafeez, and Rashid Khan’s cameo propelled Lahore to end their innings at 199-4. For Peshawar, Salman Irshad took two wickets while Usman Qadir and Hussain Talat picked one each.

Brief scores:

Lahore Qalandars 199-4, 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 66, Abdullah Shafique 41, Mohammad Hafeez 37 not out, Kamran Ghulam 30, Rashid Khan 22 not out; Salman Irshad 2-47) VS Peshawar Zalmi 170-9, 20 overs (Haider Ali 49, Kamran Akmal 41, Sherfane Rutherford 21; Zaman Khan 3-32, David Wiese 2-11, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-19).

Today’s Match

Quetta Gladiators

vs Islamabad United

at 07:00 PM