PZ vs IU: Azam’s 85 goes in vain as Zalmi beat United by 10 runs in nail-biting game

Peshawar Zalmi thumped Islamabad United by 10 runs in the nail-biting 24th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 as a sensational 85-run knock off 45 balls from Azam Khan went in vain while  Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz’s excellent spell of 2-26 in four overs turned out to be decisive.

While chasing a huge target, United was provided 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 theUnited’s sole hope as he went rampant against the Zalmi bowlers by smacking 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 two 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 at the cost of 29 runs, while Hussain picked one wicket.

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

United. who is without a full-strength team as their skipper Shadab Khan is out due to an injury, was put to field first by Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz.

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.

Peshawar Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz had won the toss and elected to bat first in the 24th match of PSL 2022.