Babar Azam Century and Aqib Fifer made 3 in 3 victory for Peshawar Zalmi.
After Beating Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi moved to number three in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine’s points table after the 13th game at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Quetta Gladiators is second, and Multan Sultans tops the list. It should be remembered that Babar Azam’s eleventh century in T20 cricket and Arif Yaqoob’s five wickets ensured the win for Peshawar Zalmi by eight runs against Islamabad United. While Peshawar made a total of 202/4, Islamabad was limited to 193/9.
Colin Munro and Azam Khan had built up a promising partnership leading towards an Islamabad win but, during the nineteenth over, exceptional bowling from Yaqoob resulted in four wickets, changing the momentum in favor of Peshawar.
These represents one of those memorable occasions which will go down as a historic moment in the annals of this competition since it marked Yaqoob as the first-ever bowler who got four wickets from one over with five for twenty-seven runs to his name.
When only 32 runs were on board, Jordan Cox (13) departed during the fifth over – early blows to Islamabad. Shadab Khan (6) and Salman Ali Agha (14) leaving almost together added further pressure, making it 73/3 after nine point three overs.
Azam Khan entered the field with a bang. He has changed the fate of the game with a stunning 108-run partnership alongside Munro. For instance, he scored an impressive 75 off just 30 balls which included six fours and as many sixes. However, his dismissal in the 18th over led to a collapse in the lower order.
On the following delivery, Munro was dismissed after scoring 71 off just 53 balls. The spinner Arif Yaqoob further dimmed Islamabad’s chances at winning by picking three more wickets in one over that saw him achieve a five-wicket haul making him the first PSL9 player to achieve this feat.
Nevertheless, Naseem Shah hit a six on the penultimate ball but fell short of their target by 19 runs for Islamabad. Besides Yaqoob, Salman Irshad, Naveen, Luke Wood, and Saim Ayub each managed to take one scalp apiece.
Peshawar chose to bat first, and both openers Saim Ayub and Babar guided them through an opening stand of 73 runs. The tone was set by Ayub’s quickfire 38 (21). But some careless dismissals during middle overs left Peshawar reeling at 80/3 in only 8.4 overs.
However, there was no way Babar Azam could allow it to happen as he staged a strong comeback and spearheaded a ruthless counter-attack. Also, his explosive batting in the 18th over, where he struck four boundaries plus one maximum, turned things around completely. At Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore this afternoon. These propelled Peshawar to 202 thanks to Asif Ali, chipped with a brisk 17 while Azam remained unbeaten on 111 off just63 balls. Shabab had bowled two for twenty-eight, and Naseem Shah led United’s bowling.
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