Peshawar Zalmi 146 for 6 (Babar 43, Mendis 27, Ayub 2-19) beat Hyderabad Kingsmen 145 all out (Perera 58, Iftikhar 4-21, Muqeem 4-32) by four wickets
It was 11 days since they last played, and for Peshawar Zalmi, it came down to those two numbers: 1 from 1 to win. Despite the best efforts of a superb death spell from Hunain Shah, Zalmi sneaked that final single to maintain their unbeaten start to the PSL, eking out a final-ball victory.
It looked initially as if they had been helped in getting a soft resumption to proceedings after playing Hyderabad Kingsmen, perhaps the weakest side in the competition so far. Spinners Sufiyan Muqeem and - perhaps more surprisingly - Iftikhar Ahmed - were the bowling stars for Zalmi, skittling Kingsmen out for 145. But it was by no means the perfect chase in the face of a heroic, valiant defence from the Kingsmen. But a docile innings from Babar Azam was the anchor around which his team managed to assemble an unconvincing chase, before they nearly blew it. It came, once more, to Iftikhar to get them over the line, a straight six off the third last ball of the game dragging his side to a win they almost let slip through their fingers.
Kingsmen were in dire straits from the outset. After losing the toss in the first game to be held in Karachi this season, Iftikhar ran riot through the top order. Introduced in the third over, he struck to get rid of Maaz Sadaqat straightaway, before taking three wickets in his second over, Saim Ayub, Sharjeel Khan, and Usman Khan all departing before the over was out. It left the Kingsmen with a massive rebuild while the powerplay hadn't even finished, captain Marnus Labuschagne and Kusal Perera there to pick up the pieces.
Perera's half-century ensured Kingsmen would vaguely enter the vicinity of a respectable total, even though Labuschagne struggled. The Sri Lankan did the bulk of the heavy lifting during the 82-run partnership, broken by the first of Muqeem's wickets when Labuschagne top-edged a googly to depart for a run-a-ball 27. More importantly, Muqeem dispensed with Perera shortly after, leading to the innings falling apart; the last five wickets fell for nine runs in 12 balls as Labuschagne's men folded tamely for 145.
It should have been a straightforward chase. Mohammad Haris started with a bright, albeit predictably brief, cameo, while a more substantive innings from Kusal Mendis made better use of the powerplay. Babar was content to anchor his way through, but with the target as modest as it was, this did not overly encumber his side.
However, Kingsmen kept finding ways to strike just when it looked as if the cause had become hopeless. The 49-run stand between Mendis and Babar was broken by Saim Ayub when Mendis lapped one into fine leg's hands. Michael Bracewell has an excellent record in the PSL, and produced another handy little innings, but after accumulating 25 in 19, he, too, fell to Ayub, with Zalmi still 42 runs away.
The real scare came in the final six overs when Babar, who had stuttered his way to 43 off 37, holed out after an unconvincing slog, and Farhan Yousaf and Abdul Samad departed within four balls of each other. A splendid 19th over from Hunain Shah suddenly turned the equation into 29 off the final two overs, with the task left to Iftikhar and Aamer Jamal.
Mohammad Ali and Hunain were both superb in those dying moments. Ali barely missed as Zalmi struggled to hit him off the square. But Iftikhar hung deep in his crease in the hope the otherwise unerring Hunain would miss his length under pressure. He did, marginally, just twice and paid ten runs for it. It was just about enough for Zalmi, who guaranteed Kingsmen remain winless and pointless in a debut season that may already be steering them towards an early exit.
