Daily Times

LAHORE: Veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik sparkled with bat as Peshawar Zalmi scored Super-Over victory against Lahore Qalandars in the last league match of the seventh edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) at Gaddafi Stadium here on Monday night. Peshawar had set a 159-run target for Lahore, who fell a run short and forced the match to a Super-Over after their skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi smashed 22 runs — three sixes and a four — in the last over. When Lahore batted in the Super-Over, they handed a six-run target to Peshawar, courtesy of skipper Wahab Riaz’s sensational bowling. When it was Peshawar turn to bat, they sent in their experienced all-rounder, Malik. And he proved to be the right man for the right job, as he smashed two fours to Shaheen and sailed his team to victory.

Chasing victory target of 159, Lahore’s batting line-up failed to deliver and tied the match at 158 for the loss of eight wickets. Fakhar Zaman went out for a golden duck in the first ball of the match. Mohammad Hafeez was the only Lahore batsman who performed and scored 49 runs off 44 balls. Kamran Ghulam made 25. After failure of his batting line-up, skipper Shaheen took charge and played a brilliant undefeated knock of 39 to take the match to Super-Over.

Earlier, Peshawar failed to score big and could muster only 158 for the loss seven wickets. Openers Mohammad Harris (06) and Hazratullah Zazai (20), who were expected to give Peshawar a flying start, could not put enough runs on the board. Spinner Fawad Ahmed took two important wickets of Kamran Akmal (12) and Malik (32). The right-arm spinner gave away only 26 runs. Malik was the top scorer for Peshawar and faced 28 balls.

With the last league match yesterday, the schedule for the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) playoffs has been. Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators have been knocked out. Karachi have finished at sixth spot while Quetta concluded their PSL 7 stint at fifth position. Table-toppers Multan Sultans will go against Lahore, who finished at the second spot on the points table, in the qualifier which will take place at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 23. The winning team will go on to the final, while the losing side will face the winning team of eliminator 1 in eliminator 2. Peshawar and Islamabad United, who finished at third and fourth spot on the points table, respectively, will go against each other in eliminator 1 at the Gaddafi Stadium on February 24. The team that win eliminator 1 — either Islamabad or Peshawar — will take on the losing side from the qualifier — Multan and Lahore. This will be the last match before the final and the team that win the match will go on to face the team who had won the qualifier in the final match of the PSL 7. The match will be staged under lights of Gaddafi Stadium on Feb 25. The final will take place under lights on Feb 27 (Sunday) at 7:30pm.

Brief scores:

Peshawar Zalmi 158-7: Hazratullah Zazai 20, Haider Ali 25, Shoaib Malik 32, Fawad Ahmed 2-26 VS Lahore Qalandars 158-8: Kamran Ghulam 25, Mohammad Hafeez 49, Shaheen Shah Afridi 39 not out, Arshad Iqbal 2-30, Wahab Riaz 2-19.