PSL X: Peshawar Zalmi beat Lahore Qalandars by seven wickets

 Peshawar Zalmi Thursday thrashed Lahore Qalandars by seven wickets in the 14th fixture of the Pakistan Super League Season 10 at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Alzarri Joseph’s bowling exploits, backed by half-centuries from Babar Azam and Hussain Talat, propelled Zalmi to a comfortable victory over Qalandars.

Chasing a modest 130-run target, the visitors knocked the winning runs for the loss of just three wickets and 20 balls to spare.

Zalmi, however, had a contrasting start to their pursuit as they lost opening batter Saim Ayub (two) and Tom Kohler Cadmore (zero) inside two overs with just seven runs on the board.

After the back-to-back blows, wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Haris joined Babar in the middle and launched a brief counterattack.

The duo added a brisk 33 runs in 21 deliveries until Haris was outclassed by a Shaheen Shah Afridi’s slower delivery in the fifth over.

Haris smashed two fours and two sixes on during his 16-ball 20.

Babar and Hussain Talat then knitted a match-winning partnership for the fourth wicket and steered Zalmi over the line in the 17th over.

Babar top-scored for Zalmi with an unbeaten 56 off 42 deliveries, studded with seven fours and a six, while Talat made 51 not out from 37 balls, laced with six boundaries including a six.

Shaheen was the standout bowler for Qalandars, taking two wickets for 22 runs in his four overs, while Haris Rauf struck once.

In a faltering first innings effort at their home ground, Lahore Qalandars were all out for 128 runs in 19.3 overs against a well-drilled Peshawar Zalmi attack. 

The scoreboard tells a tale of early collapse, brief resistance, and a clinical bowling performance by the Zalmi pace battery.

Sent in to bat, Lahore were off to a rocky start. Fakhar Zaman (10 off 8) and Asif Ali (5 off 6) were both dismissed inside the first three overs. Alzarri Joseph, who returned figures of 3 for 16 in a fiery spell that broke Lahore's spine before it could straighten, claimed the key wickets of Zaman and Abdullah Shafiq. Luke Wood trapped Asif Ali in front of the wickets when through a TV review. Daryl Mitchell tried to counterattack but was gone for just 2, top-edging a catch to Abdul Samad off Wood, leaving Lahore reeling at 17 for 3.

The top order completely crumbled — Abdullah Shafique fell for a duck, and Sam Billings (2 off 3) couldn't survive either, bringing Sikandar Raza to the crease with Lahore tottering at 34 for 5. What followed was a gutsy and defiant knock that stood head and shoulders above the carnage around him. Raza smashed a sparkling 52 off 37 balls, including five boundaries and three sixes, as he held one end while wickets kept tumbling at the other.

Raza received brief support from Rishad Hossain (13 off 13) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (16 off 10), both trying to push the score past 100. But Zalmi's bowling unit kept striking in clusters. Joseph was the standout, but Luke Wood (2/25), Hussain Talat (2/22), and Ali Raza (2/25) chipped in effectively to keep Lahore in check. The bowling was smart, disciplined, and ruthless — only 5 extras were conceded across the innings.

Lahore’s innings folded on the penultimate delivery of the 20th over, unable to even bat out their full quota. The likes of Haris Rauf (10 off 14) and Asif Afridi (6 off 11) tried to push the total, but the target remains modest on a flat Gaddafi surface.