PSL: Hales shines as Islamabad qualifies for Eliminator 2

A half-century from Hales helped Islamabad to chase down 170 runs in a last-over thriller.

Salman Irshad tried his best to defend the total with his outstanding Yorkers but cameos from Faheem and Azam Khan followed by a six and a four from Dawson in the last over dragged Islamabad over the victory line.

Hasan Ali also returned to the side with a brilliant 3-wicket haul. 

Peshawar Zalmi    20 overs    169-5

Kamran 58 (39)               Hasan 3-30                                                                                                                                    S. Malik 55 (43)               Faheem 1-15

Islamabad United  20 overs   170-5

Hales 62 (49)                   Irshad 3-31                                                                                                                                Azam 28 (22)                   Usman 1-17

The PSL 7 campaign of Peshawar Zalmi came to end with this defeat while Islamabad United still have to face Lahore Qalandars before battling with Multan Sultans for the trophy in the Final match.

The return of several main players has lifted the confidence of Islamabad as they chased down 170 runs on a tough track. 

Kamran Akmal’s half-century 

Kamran Akmal came back in form and played aggressively in the 1st 10 overs.

Peshawar Zalmi lost their 2 Youngsters M. Haris and Yasir Khan before the first 8 overs.

The experienced Kamran Akmal scored 58 runs from just 39 deliveries including 7 fours and 2 sixes.

Peshawar was looking good when Kamran Akmal was batting but after his dismissal, the run rate slowed down a bit. 

Shoaib Malik’s form continues 

After an excellent knock from one experienced player, the other experienced player Shoaib Malik also played an outstanding knock in the death overs.

Peshawar was 107-3 in 15 overs but Shoaib Malik smashed the ball all around the ground to put a fighting total on the board.

Malik scored another half-century this season and smashed 55 runs from 43 balls.

His innings included 4 fours and 2 sixes. The excellent hitting from Malik dragged the total from 107-3 to 169-5.

Excellent 3-wicket haul from Hasan Ali

 Hasan Ali struggled in the whole match but after resting in some matches, he came back strongly as he claimed a superb 3-wicket haul.

This was the best bowling performance from Hasan Al in the whole tournament.

He picked up 3 wickets and conceded only 30 runs from his 4 overs. 

Islamabad’s chase

Alex Hales returned to Islamabad United for the playoffs and he smashed a match-winning 62 runs.

Will Jacks and Alex Hales opened the innings today although Will Jacks departed early but Hales continued his excellent batting form, he was scoring boundaries at regular intervals to keep the required run rate low.

The skipper Shadab Khan (22 off 17) who came back into the side today after suffering from an injury, supported Hales in a 43 run partnership for the second wicket. 

After Shadab’s dismissal, Alex Hales started to play a bit aggressively but after scoring 62 runs, he was clean bowled by Salman Irshad on an almost unplayable yorker.

The match became interesting after his dismissal.

Asif Ali came in and smashed a huge six but in the very next over, he was also done and dusted by Irshad – this time on a slow yorker but the result was the same. 

Islamabad needed 46 runs from 4 overs, Faheem Ashraf smashed a six and a four to score 16 runs from that over to reduce the equation to 32 runs from 3 overs.

Salman Irshad bowled a good 18^th over but a six from Azam Khan spoiled it to finish it as a 10 run over. 

Last over drama 

10 runs were required from the last over and Benny Howell was chosen to defend those runs.

He got Azam Khan LBW out on the first ball of the last over but a six and a four by Dawson ended Peshawar’s campaign in PSL 7.

Salman Irshad picked up 3 wickets while Khalid Usman claimed only 1 wicket but he was very economical.