Peshawar Zalmi 122 for 4 (Kohler-Cadmore 46, Hasan Ali 2-14) beat United Islamabad 118 (Hales 41, Riaz 4-17, Mahmood 3-12) with six wikis
In the Pakistan Super League, T20 cricket is a simple game: 22 men hit a ball around for three hours, and in the end, the chase team wins.
Saturday night in Karachi, the formula worked for winning the toss, choosing bowling and winning the game for the tenth time out of ten this season, as Peshawar won Zalmi their third game in a row by bowling Islamabad United out for 118 and running the target down with 17 balls remaining.
United’s deep batting team had worked perfectly in their first two games, as they scored 151 and 197 goals, but struggled against quicks Zalmi Wahab Riaz and Saqib Mahmood and were not but briefly threatens to post a full number on a reasonable batting range. They ran to 38 for 1 after 4.2 overs thanks to a clear start from Alex Hales, and got through three quick wickets to reach 81 for 4 after 10, but lost too regular wickets and were relegated. at the beginning of the 18th over.
Zalmi got off to a terrible start in their run, losing both openers within the first two innings and struggling to score against the new ball, but Tom Kohler stood up. -Cadmore and Shoaib Malik them before Haider Ali’s cameo – consisting of 89-meters just six from his first ball – put the game to bed.
Star of the day
Riaz had 2 figures for 105 returning over his eight pitches in Zalmi ‘s previous two games, with head coach Daren Sammy suggesting he had struggled with the captain’ s burden. But things clicked on Saturday night, as he hit the first blow before returning to clear the midfield order.
With Lewis Gregory managing injuries, Paul Stirling was brought in for his first game in the PSL less than 24 hours after being named the All-Ireland man in the 2011-2020 decade. But he only stayed two balls, as he was foxed with an extra kick from a distance and cut Riaz on his own stocks.
It came back when Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali were looking to take the innings deep, and they took away both in six six balls: Iftikhar went out to a deep midwicket, and Asif withdrew long ago. His last wicket came in 17th place, crushing the dangerous Hasan Ali lbw. Riaz’s approach was relatively straightforward, hitting the pitch a long, long way outside a stump, but the simplicity gave him his rewards.
Miss the day
Did Shadab Khan make a mistake by holding back some of his bowling supplies too late? If United had a chance to win after posting such a low number, it was up to their two best sailors to take wickets with the new ball, and Zalmi was 19 for 2 outs. after five goals by Ali and Mohammad Wasim found an extra kick from distance and both bowled at a good pace.
But instead of going for the kill, Khan held the two men back, instead turning to Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Ahmed and himself. Malik and Kohler-Cadmore both looked comfortable against the leg winners, knocking the ball around with very little pressure on the scoring level. When Fawad hit in the 13th over to have Kohler-Cadmore running behind him, Zalmi only needed 50 away from 44 balls at the time of his retirement; By the time Wasim started his third place, they needed 23 off 30.
Hasan removed the dangerous Haider in his final round over, the 17th, and released a trademark rookie, but Khan had allowed the game to move and ensure it was effectively over. before his strike bowler came back.
Honorable references
The English group Zalmi, Mahmood and Kohler-Cadmore, followed their good early form in the competition. Mahmood seems to have added half a yard of speed, consistently going over 87mph / 140kph, and has been able to get a move out with both the new and old ball. He put a bamboo on Phil Salt with a slower ball, had Hales catch a full throw and cleared Wasim to finish with a staggering 3 for 12 figure and became the main catcher of the season in the process.
Kohler-Cadmore’s 46-run run was disappointing, especially compared to his 53 off 32 first-time pick against Multan Sultans, but after coming in at No. 3 inside. the first with Ali drawing fire, it was a crucial blow. He woke up the weight early, crawling to 5 off 16 balls while digging in against the new ball, but accelerated well and made sure the required level was not reached. -ever above seven, sweeping slog well against the feet.
Matt Roller is assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @ mroller98