Babar Azam blames 'ordinary' bowling for PSL 9 loss against Islamabad United

Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam has blamed his side's "ordinary" bowling as the primary reason behind the team's defeat against Islamabad United in the second eliminator of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine. 

"I think we were in a good position after 10 overs. But our bowling after that was very bad. We weren't up to the mark and we thought we had won the match,"  Babar said while speaking after the team's loss.

"Credit to Imad Wasim and Haider Ali for how they played," said Babar as he hailed the duo on their partnership which proved crucial in United's victory.

Taking to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the 29-year-old expressed gratitude to the fans for their support and reaffirmed the team's commitment to "come back stronger".

During the match, United had a horrible start, losing three wickets within four overs with only 21 runs on the board as they attempted to chase down Zalmi's 186-run target.

In-form opener Martin Guptill briefly fought back, notably scoring 22 runs in an over against Saim Ayub, before being dismissed by Khurram Shehzad on the final delivery of the batting powerplay.

Guptill remained a notable contributor for the United, scoring 34 runs off 21 balls, including five boundaries and a six.