Dubai: Lahore Qalandars’ comeback performance continued as they recorded their third successive victory after beating Peshawar Zalmi by five wickets in a thriller in the 24th match of Pakistan Super League at the Lahore Gaddafi stadium on Tuesday night. From showing only one win from the first five matches, Lahore have now bounced back to emerge as a threat to all teams and moved to the third place.
Peshawar had posted an impressive 187 for seven in 20 overs despite a poor start - losing opener Tom Banton for a duck, Liam Livingstone for four and the inform opener Kamran Akmal for only 12. Veteran batsman Shoaib Malik once again displayed his form, cracking 62 runs and with Haider Ali (69) and put on 116 runs for the fourth wicket. Malik’s knock came off 43 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes while Ali’s innings off 43 balls had four boundaries and four sixes.
If not for Shaheen Afridi’s three-wicket haul for 28 runs, backed by Samit Patel (2 for 37), Peshawar would have crossed the 200-run mark.
Chasing a tough target, Lahore opener Fakhar Zaman regained his form on time when he played a match-winning knock of 63 off 46 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. He put on a 50-run opening partnership in 6.2 overs with his skipper Sohail Akhtar (21) to set the momentum for the chase. Chris Lynn then joined Zaman and maintained the run rate with a 96-run partnership for the second wicket. Lynn fell in the 16th over after hitting 59 runs off 32 balls with six boundaries and three sixes.
When Lahore needed 40 runs in 23 balls, Zaman got caught in the cover off Wahab Riaz. Lahore’s chances of a victory fell further when they lost Mohammad Hafeez (4) and Ben Dunk (7) in the 17th over. With 24 runs needed off 12 balls, David Wiese hit a six off Rahat Ali.
In the last over, Lahore needed eight runs and Wiese hit the fifth ball of the last over from Carlos Brathwaite for another six to win the match with a ball to spare and remain unbeaten on 17.
Brief scores: Lahore Qalandars bt Peshawar Zalmi by 5 wkts. Peshawar 187 for 7 in 20 overs (Haider Ali 69, Shoaib Malik 62; Shaheen Afridi 3 for 28, Samith Patel 2 for 37) Lahore 189 for 5 in 19.5 overs (Fakhar Zaman 63, Sohail Akhtar 21, Chris Lynn 59; Carlos Brathwaite 3 for 28) Man of the Match: Fakhar Zaman.
