PSL 2022: Azam's 85-run knock goes in vain as Peshawar beat Islamabad

LAHORE: Azam Khan's 85-run knock went in vain Thursday as Peshawar Zalmi triumphed over Islamabad United by 10 runs in match 24 of the Pakistan Super League's (PSL) seventh edition.

United, who were without a full-strength team as their skipper Shadab Khan and Zeeshan Zameer are out due to an injury, were put into the field by Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz.

Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz's brilliant spell of 2-26 in four over turned out to be the decisive factor.

While chasing a huge target, United was provided with a fiery start as opener Rahmanuallah Gurabz scored 46 runs in 19 balls, but after his dismissal, Zalmi roared back as both Mubassir Khan and Danish Aziz failed to play a huge knock.

It was Azam Khan who stood as the United's sole hope as he went rampant against the Zalmi bowlers as he smacked seven sixes and six fours to bring his team closer.

Azam was dismissed in the 18.1 over by Wahab Riaz who was brilliant with the bowl in today's crucial match as Azam was finally removed having scored 85 runs in just 45 balls.

After his wickets, all the hopes for United died as Musa and de Lange did score a boundary or too but they remained 11 runs shy of the finishing line.

Apart from Wahab, Salman Irshad also bowled well as he picked three wickets in four overs giving 29 runs, while Hussain picked one.

Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi posted a mammoth 206-run total for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs, courtesy of opener Mohammad Haris' fiery 70-run knock.

Haris and Hazratullah Zazai opened the innings for Zalmi. One would expect Zazai to go rampant as he is an experienced batter having played at the international level, but he didn't play a huge knock having been removed after scoring 13 runs.

Both the openers gave Zalmi a 73-run start, while Haris continued to carve quick runs, as he was finally dismissed by Waqas Maqsood in the 9.3 overs.

Yasir Khan also started hitting boundaries as scored 35 runs off 24 balls with two sixes and three fours as he was removed by Zahir Khan.

Shoaib Malik also continued his brilliant form as he notched 38 runs in 23 balls with two sixes and was removed by Faheem in the 17.2 overs.

The United bowlers in the late overs did very well as they bowled dot balls and stopped the Zalmi batters from hitting the boundaries.

Waqas was good as he gave away 34 runs and also picked two wickets in four overs, Musa went for 33 runs in two overs, while Faheem was also brilliant as he picked three wickets for 33 runs in four overs.

Playing XI

Peshawar Zalmi: Hazratullah Zazai, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Haris (wk), Shoaib Malik, Hussain Talat, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz (c), Salman Irshad, Liam Livingstone, Usman Qadir, Yasir Khan

Islamabad United: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mubasir Khan, Danish Aziz, Liam Dawson, Asif Ali (c), Azam Khan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Waqas Maqsood, Muhammad Musa, Marchant de Lange, Zahir Khan.

Live updates of match are given below: