Karachi: In the fifth match of Pakistan Super League, Islamabad United easily defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 9 wickets and started the event victoriously.
The fifth match of HBLPSL was played between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United at the National Stadium in Karachi, in which Peshawar Zalmi batted first and gave Islamabad United a target of 169 for victory.
Islamabad United’s Paul Sterling and Alex Hales started the innings chasing the target and batting aggressively, charged Peshawar Zalmi’s bowlers with a stick and did not let one of them run. The openers formed a 112-run partnership, after which Paul Sterling was run out on an individual score of 57 and left for the pavilion. He played a brilliant innings of 57 off 25 balls with the help of 3 sixes and 7 fours.
At the other end, Hales scored a half-century off 33 balls with the help of a six and eight fours.
Alex Hales played a key role in the team’s victory by playing an unbeaten innings of 82 runs. Islamabad United easily achieved the target of 169 runs for the loss of one wicket in the 16th over.
Earlier, Islamabad United decided to field after winning the toss against Peshawar Zalmi and invited Peshawar Zalmi to bat.
Peshawar Zalmai innings
Tom Kohler and Yasir Khan started the innings for Peshawar Zalmai but Tom Kohler was dismissed for zero without opening an account.
After which Haider Ali came and teamed up with Yasir Khan to advance the scoreboard. However, on a total score of 26, Yasir Khan also scored 14 runs and was caught by Shadab Khan while newcomer batsman Hussain Talat also scored only 2 runs. Proved to be guests.
Haider Ali also fell victim to Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan after scoring 15 runs. When Peshawar Zalmi’s batting line faltered badly, Shoaib Malik teamed up with Sharfane Rutherford to move the scoreboard forward but Shoaib Malik was also dismissed for 25 by Muhammad Wasim.
Newcomer batsman Ben Cutting was also dismissed for 26 off Hassan Ali’s ball, while Sharfane Rutherford made an impressive 70, with Peshawar Zalmi scoring 168 in all overs to give Islamabad United the victory. Gave a target of 169 runs.