Talat & malik together produced blistering knocks to help Zalmi chase down a target of 191 runs with two deliveries to spare & defeat Quetta Gladiators with five wickets to get off to a winning start.
PSL 2022, PES vs QUE
A remarkable 29 ball 52 runs from Hussain Talat & a powerpack finish by stand-in Captain Shoaib Malik (48* off 32) helped Peshawar Zalmi’s to overpower Quetta Gladiators in their season-opening clash. Talat & malik together produced blistering knocks to help Zalmi chase down a target of 191 runs with two deliveries to spare & defeat Quetta Gladiators with five wickets to get off to a winning start.
Shoaib Malik was leading the team in teh absence of Wahab Riaz who has tested positive for COVID-19. Peshawar’s got off to a brisk start with Kohler Cadmore & Yasir Khan adopting a mixed approach of caution with aggression to keep their scoreboard ticking. After three overs Peshawar’s score read 33-0 with Yasir Khan (20* off 10) & Cadmore (10 off 10) staying unbeaten on the crease. Soon their blooming partnership was broken by Mohammad Nawaz who removed Yasir Khan for 30 runs. Then came Haider Ali on crease & who kept ticking 1-2 runs at the other end to guide Peshawar’s score to 50-1 after 5 overs.
Haider Ali’s stint didn’t last long as Mohammad Nawaz scalped his second wicket of the day by dismissing Cadmore for 22(16) reducing Peshawar’s to 62-2. Peshwar’s stand-in captain Shoaib-Malik came on the crease to take the charge & along with Haider took Zalmi’s score at 76-2 before Haider was sent back to the pavilion off Mohammad Nawaz’s delivery.
Haider’s dismissal bought Talat on the crease. Malik & Talat’s heavy-hitting accelerated Peshawar’s run chase with the duo registering a stunning 81 run stand for the fourth wicket. Hussain Talat51(27) & Shoaib Malik24(21) took Peshawar Zalmi’s total above 150 runs mark after 61 overs. However, James Faulkner got rid of Talat for 52 runs in the 17th over to add pressure on Zalmi’s batters. Then came Sherfane Rutherford to show his prowess with the bat but couldn’t last long as Naseem Shah struck & removed Rutherford for 10 runs. However Shoaib Malik was going strong at the other end, he scored 22 runs in the penultimate over to take Peshawar Zalmi over the line.
Earlier, Quetta Gladiators made the best use of Peshawar Zalmi’s poor fielding & brought up a competitive total on board, however, fell 10-12 runs short of registering a total of 200. The Quetta got off to a stunning start with the openers Ahsan Ali (73 off 46) and Will Smeed (97 off 62) registering a rewarding 155 runs stand. Their partnership marked the highest partnership for Gladiators to date. Smeed continued even after losing his partner but missed out on a maiden T20 hundred after getting dismissed on 97 runs. Peshawar Zalmi was really poor in the field but the bowlers have managed to keep it down to a chaseable total.
For Quetta Gladiators Mohammad Nawaz starred with the bat by registering three wickets haul while for Peshawar Zalmi’s Usman Qadir was the standout bowler, conceding only 20 runs in his 4 overs and picking the wickets of Ahsan Ali and Ben Duckett.
PSL 2022 PES vs QUE, Brief Scores:
Quetta Gladiators 190/4 in 20 overs (Smeed 97, Ali 73; Qadir 2-20) lost to Peshawar Zalmi 191/5 in 19.4 overs (Talat 52, Malik 48*; Nawaz 3-44) by 5 wickets