Peshawar Zalmi crush Qalandars

LAHORE: Euphoria of victory for Lahore Qalandars short-lived as they caved in to a seven-wicket defeat in their very next match of Pakistan Super League IV to Peshawar Zalmi at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Peshawar Zalmi did not even grapple fierce-fully and did not get a chance to show their full potential to get 81 runs for three wickets in 10.1 overs in response to Qalandars spineless 78. Qalandars, which not only rejoiced their first win of the tournament on Saturday night against Karachi Kings but also elated for their new find in Haris Rauf, were humbled quite humiliatingly. In their third match of the season, they scored the second lowest total of the PSL, 78 for all in 15.1 overs. The previous low, rather lowest of the PSL (59) is also of Qalandars they registered at the same venue also against Zalmi in 2017. Qalandars on their on-field musings have failed miserably to live up to its off-field manoeuvring and should be looking for or should be given a place for hiding. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf provided fiery start to Qalandars defence but the score was not reasonable enough to fight for. Afridi unleashed a ripper of a yorker to Kamran Akmal who failed to get his bat down in time. The toe-crusher second ball of the innings thundered in to Kamran's toe and crashed into the stumps. Haris Rauf in the very next over trapped Imam-ul-Haq LWB, leaving Zalmi two down for six and later in the ninth over, Rahat Ali got WL Medson. But Umar Amin by then single-handedly scored enough runs to smoothen the victory path for Zalmi. He with his unbeaten 61 on just 39 balls shaved off the target along with Pollard (6 not out). Amin scored 11 boundaries and one six. Zalmi's decision to take the field paid early dividends with their bowlers unleashing unplayable deliveries. Hasan Ali was on fire and so was Wahab Riaz. Ibtisam Sheikh and Kieron Pollard too showed variation in their bowling. Only Umaid Asif could not find success. Hasan had four and Wahab three wickets while Ibtisam and Pollard had two and one wicket respectively. Zalmi attack allowed only three of the Qalandars reach double figures; AP Devcich (18), their stand-in captain AB de Villiers (14) and Agha Salman (13) saw their teammates struggle to find runs. Only 26 runs were shared by seven Qalandars.