Match Details
In pursuit of a competitive total of 184, Rahmanullah Gurbaz started the innings on a fiery note and went after his countryman Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the first over. However, his stay was soon ended by Azmatullah Omarzai as the right-hander Gurbaz returned for 10(7). Sohaib Maqsood, the next batter in, then joined forces with English batter Hales and resurrected the innings after an early wicket.
The right-handed duo stepped on the gas straightaway and gained momentum for United. Hales was the primary aggressor in the partnership and cruised United to 67/1 after the powerplay while Maqsood also kept on moving the scorecard. Both the batters completed their half-centuries and just when they were completely taking the game away from Zalmi, Aamer Jamal cleaned up Maqsood 60(48) and ceased the 115-run partnership between the duo.
Following Maqsood’s wicket, the Zalmi bowlers were excellent to dry up the runs as both Azam Khan and Hales strived to middle the ball. The right-hander Azam eventually succumbed to building pressure and he was cleaned up by Salman Irshad. That was soon followed by the massive wicket of Alex Hales 57(37) as Aamer Jamal gets rid of him with an excellent yorker to level the contest.
After the departure of Hales, the wickets kept tumbling for United and a fantastic display of death bowling by Jamal and Irshad handed Zalmi a place in Eliminator 2. Both Irshad and Jamal claimed a couple of wickets while Omarzai also extracted a breakthrough.
Earlier in the day, after being invited to bat, Saim Ayub attained some streaky boundaries in the first over before Babar Azam went all guns blazing in the following over. Both the batters kept striking the ball inside the powerplay and kept the scorecard moving at a swift rate. The left-right duo kept toying with the bowlers in the field restrictions before Mohammad Wasim Jr dismissed Saim Ayub 23(16).
Nonetheless, skipper Babar Azam kept attacking the bowlers and cruised Peshawar to 77/1 after the end of the powerplay. Haseebullah Khan, the next batter in, played some good strokes before Shadab Khan outwitted the left-hander for 15(11). Mohammad Haris also swatted the bowlers all around the park and notched up a quick 34(17) before Hasan Ali dismissed him.
Following Haris’ wicket, Peshawar suffered a mini-collapse and drifted away from the course but eventually, it was Azmatullah Omarzai’s cameo of 10(6) that took Zalmi past 180. Skipper Shadab Khan was the pick of the bowlers for United and the leg spinner bagged two crucial wickets despite leaking few runs. Stick around for the post-match presentation!