Islamabad United win rain-hit PSL match against Zalmi

DUBAI: Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi in the first match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday by seven wickets.

The defending champions were set target of 191 runs that was reduced to 173 in 18 overs under D/L method after rain. Foreign players dominated the first game of the second edition of the PSL as Shane Watson took four wickets for United and Brad Hadden and Dwayne Smith scored 73, 55 respectively while chasing the target.

Kamran Akmal of Peshawar Zalmi was the only Pakistani player who entertained the crowd with his massive sixes, scoring 88 runs off 48 balls. Hadden was the man of the match.

After being put on to bat and losing the first wicket on the first ball of the match, Zalmi recovered quickly and reached the 100-run mark in less than 10 overs. Afrdi made four, Sammy  seven and Sohail made 12 runs off 14 balls after Akmal’s departure. Dawid Malan who struck a partnership with Akmal and stabilized the innings was finally caught at 43 on a ball by Shane Watson.

Watson took 4 wickets, Muhammad Irfan and Muhammad Sami 2 wickets each while Saeed Ajmal grabbed only one.