Peshawar Zalmi leaked runs in death overs: Shoaib Malik

KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi’s experienced batsman Shoaib Malik regretted leaking runs in the last overs after the former Pakistan captain’s 73-off-48 went in vain as his side lost the match to the Lahore Qalandars.

Zalmi were chasing a target of 171 and Malik stood firm after coming in to bat. He stayed on the wicket till the 19th over and scored the 65th half-century of his T20 career, but he couldn’t help his side win the game.

In a post-match statement, the experienced cricketer said that after starting off well against Lahore Qalandars, Zalmi leaked too many runs in the death overs.

“We leaked runs in death overs, as a team we were not expecting Lahore Qalandars to score around 170 and we missed the trick there, we should’ve done better,” Malik said while referring to how his side allowed Lahore to post 170 in 20 overs from 43/4 in 10 overs.

“Rashid Khan’s bowling turned the table, it broke our back by taking all our important wickets. So, he was the key factor and difference between the two sides despite leaking runs in death overs,” said the former Pakistan captain who batted at number 3.

He added that his side wanted him to bat up in the order and he stepped up.

“I have always played for my team’s cause and I will continue following this as long as I am playing cricket,” Malik said.

“We did bowl well in the start but I think we missed availability of a wrist spinner in the middle overs. But at the same time, we must appreciate Ben Dunk and David who batted really well and also kept strike rate high to help LQ post a good total,” the 39-year-old and veteran of 418 T20 games said.

He, however, added that the Zalmis are focused on playing their best game and execute whatever they would plan in the matches to come.

“Table looks very close and all the games are important, we need to be at our best in matches to come,” Malik concluded.