Dubai: Peshawar Zalmi captain Darren Sammy made no bones about the fact that they made a mess of a small target in winning Sunday night’s only match by three wickets in the Pakistan Super League.
“We made a mess of a small total, I don’t think our coach would be too happy. Hope to put in a better batting performance. After the first game when we scored 190, everyone thought the wickets would be a belter. So far, it has helped seam and spin. When I won the toss, there was some moisture in the air. We exploited that. Hasan (Ali) hit the Test lengths, so did all the bowlers I called upon. When they bowled, spinners did the job for them,” said Sammy, whose team had bowled out Lahore Qalandars for a paltry 59 in 10.2 overs.
Lahore’s innings was the second shortest in the history of a Twenty20 game, the first being Mohammadan Sporting Club that got bowled out for 45 runs in 8.4 overs in Sylhet Stadium in Bangladesh during a Victory Day T20 Cup. On Sunday night, 17 wickets fell for 119 runs at the Dubai International Stadium.
Sammy knew that a small target does not always guarantee a win. “We got 10 wickets, so we knew they could, too. But happy to have got the win.”
Brendon McCullum, the skipper of the Lahore team was stunned by his team’s batting collapse despite losing the toss. “It didn’t feel like a 59-60 kind of pitch. We wanted to keep attacking. Credit to the boys, they got stuck in defending such a low score.”
Even in a shattering defeat, he could spot many positives especially due to fight back to defend the small total. “We’ve come together really well. The team spirit, camaraderie and an understanding of how we want to be playing is something you can’t fault. It was a good time to be out there and enjoy what was a tight game, but not necessarily the prettiest game to watch.”
McCullum revealed their mindset to fight such small totals. “You don’t anticipate when you get bowled out, but we were alive because of the positive mindset. You want to be aggressive and dictate play. Results at the end of the tournament will judge if we’re successful or not, but for now, I’m very happy.”
Lahore spinner Yasir Shah, who through a deadly spell of four wickets for seven runs almost won the match for his team, was adjudged the Man of the Match. “My captain supported and motivated me, telling me that in these sort of games, the main spinner in the team comes to the party. I tried to pick wickets because there weren’t many runs on the board.”
If not for Eoin Morgan’s fighting 23 runs, Peshawar would have crashed to an embarrassing defeat. Speaking about his team’s win, Morgan said: “Nice to get another win, momentum is in our favour. Bowlers were outstanding on a surface that offered little more than it did the other night. When you chase a small score, you look to go for it but the wicket didn’t allow that. It was a little two-paced. I don’t think I had a rub of the green with my dismissal. Everybody makes mistakes, thankfully it didn’t cost us.”
Brief scores: Peshawar Zalmi bt Lahore Qalandars by three wickets.
Lahore Qalandars 59 in 10.2 overs (Fakhar Zaman 33, Hasan Ali 3 for 23, Chris Jordan 2 for 8) vs Peshawar Zalmi 60 for 7 in 17 overs (Eoin Morgan 23, Yasir Shah 4 for 7, Sunil Narine 2 for 16). Man of the match: Yasir Shah
