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That will bring a close to the action from PSL tonight. Tomorrow, we have a double-header as four out of the six teams will be in action on what should be a wonderful wednesday. For now, this is the pair of Sourabh and Bidipto wishing you a very good night! See you soon.
Babar Azam has been adjudged the Player of the Match! Here is what he has to say.
Babar Azam (Peshawar Zalmi captain): It's never easy to win any match, and then it's the table-toppers. Our first six overs went well with the ball but that drop catch was not all that helpful, but, we managed well in the end. I am playing tension-free cricket, there is a lot of talk about the strike-rate these days, so, am trying to improve on that too. Although that's not my strength, but still, it's all about improvement as a cricketer. Mehran Mumtaz's spell was a turning point. He was brilliant with his lines and lengths. It changed the tempo of the innings. We need to get better in the field, we simply have to. Consistency too is important heading into the business end of the tournament.
It is time for the post-match presentation!
Salman Irshad (Peshawar Zalmi) : (On what was going through his mind in the last over) I was keen on sticking to my strengths. After that dot early on in the last over, I knew that it would get difficult for them from there. (On what the bowling plan is over here) The idea in the team meeting always is to bowl as less boundary balls as possible here in Rawalpindi. (On the team) Our team combination is really good. Both batting and bowling are good enough (On their bowling coach) I feel to take us to the final. Mohammad Akram has worked with us at Peshawar Zalmi for the last three years, he keeps backing us fast bowlers to stick to our strengths.
MATCH SUMMARY
Peshawar Zalmi won by 4 runs
Babar Azam 64(40) | Aamer Jamal 2/36(4) Iftikhar Ahmed 59*(26) | Usama Mir 3/32(4)
Peshawar Zalmi hold their nerve to eek out an important win as Babar Azam's men do the double over the table-toppers Multan Sultans in this season. Peshawar Zalmi remain the only team to have beaten the Multan Sultans and they have done it twice and have moved to the third place in the points table.
It didn't look like Multan Sultans will take it this close but a powerful innings from Iftikhar Ahmed (59* off 26) along with a brilliant contribution from Chris Jordan (30* off 12) took Multan very close but it was a bit too much for them in the end.
Chasing 205, Multan got off to a good start but that was only short-lived as the Zalmi bowlers pulled them back in the second half of the powerplay. Their top order batters got in but could not go on to play the big innings that was required. Much of the credit needs to be given to the bowlers of Peshawar Zalmi who were top-class along with some spectacular fielding as well. Young spinner Mehram Mumtaz bowled a brilliant spell of 1/20 and did not allow the batters to breakthrough. Aamer Jamal was very good too with his back of the length bowling and he got 2 wickets.
Even though Iftikhar Ahmed and Chris Jordan bought it to the last over with 23 runs needed, Salman Irshad held his nerve and sealed the game for Peshawar.
Earlier in the piece, Peshawar got to 204 on the back off a brilliant start provided by their openers Saim Ayub and Babar Azam with the latter scoring a 40-ball 64. At one stage, Peshawar looked set to go past 220, but an exceptional spell of leg break bowling by the tournament's leading wicket taker combined with some good death bowling by Chris Jordan pulled it back for the table toppers. Valuable contributions from the likes of Haseebullah, Rovman Powell and Aamer Jamal took them to 204 which eventually proved to be enough.
20
overs
200/5score
2wd
0
1
4
4
1
6
runs
Iftikhar Ahmed*
59(26)
Chris Jordan
31(13)
Salman Irshad
0/46
19.6 Salman Irshad to Iftikhar Ahmed, SIX TO FINISH! BUT IT'S TOO LITTLE TOO LATE! PESHAWAR ZALMI GET AN IMPORTANT WIN! Irshad missed his length by only just and Iftikhar was waiting deep in the crease. He cleared the front leg and belted it over long-off for a maximum!
Huge cheers from the crowd with that delivery not going for a six!
19.5 Salman Irshad to Chris Jordan, gets the yorker right around leg-stump. Jordan tries to get underneath it from deep in the crease but fails to. All he does is knock it down to wide mid-on for one!
Two sixes will win it for Multan Sultans. Can Salman hold his nerve?