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We now come to the end of our coverage of the 2024 Pakistan Super League for the day. We'll be back with more of the same tomorrow as Lahore Qalandars take on the Multan Sultans on home soil - the defending champions will be desperate for a turnaround having lost 5 out of 5! Join us for our coverage in the evening, and keep an eye on our tabs as we bring you cricketing action from both India and Pakistan tomorrow! This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Arya Sekhar Chakraborty. Good night!
Babar Azam is the Player Of The Match! Here's what he has to say: She came for the first time. She's very happy. She enjoyed it, she always watches it at home, but good luck for me today, I scored a hundred when she came here. This is my best innings. We started well the first six overs, we saw the wicket was good. I was looking for 200 but 3 wickets fell, so there was a change in plan after that. Later on, when Asif and I were playing, I focused on just one bowler for a big over. I was looking for that one big over once Naseem finished his spell. Couple of boundaries, and then I tried to go big. One of the best innings I've played in front of this crowd. Paul was off the field because of a hamstring problem. I thought let's drag the match back, once Azam got out I thought of taking a chance. Good luck for us. All credit to Arif, he didn't panic, and believed in his bowling. Good for the Zalmi. Experience always helps when you're under pressure. In the field, we are always talking to young boys. We have confidence now, first two matches we weren't up to the mark, but these wins give you confidence, and momentum.
Shadab Khan (Islamabad United captain): I feel if we had played smart cricket, the result would have been different. If we had batted sensibly in the penultimate over, the equation would have been very different. The way Azam and Munro batted, it looked our's game but this is the beauty of the game. When you lose, there are many things to point out. We are leaking too many runs in the powerplay. I think momentum is of utmost important in T20 cricket. When the tournament started and the drafts were given, the roles were already defined. Haider was always our finisher. The entry point where we can succeed more, I tried to utilise on that. Bowling is going well, I have been in a good rhythm.
Arif Yaqoob (Player of the Match): Babar bhai gave me confidence at that situation. I was a bit nervous and felt I might not be given the ball. I was only thinking to keep the ball away from the batters as I knew they would be going after me. National T20 helped me a lot. This totally different but by god's grace and my parent's belief, I have managed to get success. Asad Shafiq is my favourite cricket. As a bowler Shane Warne and Danish Kaneria were my favorite bowlers. Flipper is my favourite ball.
They were in it, well and truly in it, but Islamabad United, in spite of having ample depth in batting, failed to cross the line. 0,1,1,0,8,1 are the digits after Azam Khan's 75 in the batting card - tells you a story in itself. The United wicket-keeper thrilled one and all viewing the game with a thoroughly entertaining display of power-hitting, and was brilliantly supported by a well-set Colin Munro. But a mis-timed hit from Azam Khan opened up a can of worms for the outfit in red and blue.
Saim Ayub and Luke Wood kept the runs under check early on in the powerplay against openers Jordan Cox and Colin Munro. Ayub kept a tight line, varying his speed and the openers had to be content with the odd boundary and rotating strike. Wood accounted for Jordan Cox with the slower one as he tried to hit out and missed. The odd boundary each over, though, helped Islamabad United post 45 at the end of the powerplay.
Arif Yaqoob, who had a whole lot of things to come, went on to strike for the first time, getting Shadab Khan to hole out to mid wicket. He and Walter had hold on proceedings for a while, before Agha Salman tried breaking the shackles, smashing 10 off the first two balls of Ayub's third over. The offie responded by firing a wide yorker, got Salman to slice one down the throat of the man at cover, and the match tilted further towards Zalmi.
Azam Khan, though, came in and got into the act right away. He lined Yaqoob up having had a couple of sighters, slogging him over the ropes on a couple of occasions. The onslaught then began from the wicket-keeper batter as he dug right into the Zalmi bowlers, tonking anything and everything in his area. Munro joined in on the act, and with three overs to go, Islamabad United had all the momentum they needed with 29 left to get.
The wicket of Azam Khan, right after he hooked one out the ground off Naveen, set out the alarm bells for United. What followed next was beyond reasoning - Yaqoob kept tossing the ball up repeatedly, and all four of Munro, Haider Ali, Faheem Ashraf, and Hunain Shah departed trying to smash the leggie out the ground in the span of those six deliveries in the penultimate over. Naseem Shah kept things interesting in the final over, but Salman held his nerve and closed the game out in favour of Peshawar Zalmi.
What a match, what a comeback this has been from the Zalmi! They were hit with a storm in the form of Azam Khan's onslaught, but what transpired in the last three overs is apt for a comic thriller all right! Islamabad United throw it away having been on top of proceedings going into the death overs!
20
overs
193/9score
1
6
1
W
1
1
runs
Naseem Shah*
8(3)
Tymal Mills
1(1)
Salman Irshad
1/52
19.6 Salman Irshad to Naseem Shah, game done. Peshawar Zalmi wins by 8 runs. Yorker-length a shade outside off, squeezed away towards the square leg region for a single.
19.5 Salman Irshad to Tymal Mills, Mills makes some space and drills this fuller one a shade outside off, down towards the long-off region for a single.