Sami's hat-trick helps United win against Zalmi

SHARJAH: The Islamabad United's 18-year-old Muhammad Musa vindicated himself as the X-factor in the match against Peshawar Zalmi as with his sensational three-for-23 runs spell scripted 12-run win at the eleventh match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Later, the franchise's skipper Sami recorded a phenomenal hat-trick in the last over of the game, with the dismissals of Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif and Hasan Ali in the death overs. He gave 22 runs in his spell.

Faheem Ashraf extended pressure on Zalmi by taking out the wicket of Imamul Haq. He picked two wickets in the game.

The game was dramatically shifted in Zalmi's favour courtesy strong hitting by skipper Sammy and Pollard; however, the onslaught was stopped after a while with all credit to Faheem Ashraf and Musa.

Pollard scored 51 off 22 with three fours and five sixes on 231.81 strike rate.

First Innings: Middle-order batsman Ian Bell with his half-century powered Islamabad United to 158 runs against Peshawar Zalmi in the second match of the day.

Sameen Gul took three wickets, Hasan Ali two, while Umaid Asif, Pollard and Wahab Riaz took one each.

Riding on a high from last night’s win against Karachi Kings, Peshawar Zalmi will look to continue their momentum against Islamabad United.

Despite Zalmi kicking off their PSL campaign with a six-wicket loss to Quetta, the “Yellow Storm” turned things around for themselves beating Lahore Qalandars comprehensively by seven wickets. They then defeated Karachi Kings in a thrilling encounter by 44 runs to solidify their position.

United, who started off the tournament with a win against Lahore Qalandars, stumbled and lost their next game to Multan Sultans by five wickets and then to Quetta by seven wickets. — Agencies ­