LAHORE, Feb 25 (APP): Saim, Babar and Powell built a mountain of runs which the Lahore Qalandars batsmen could never climb and faltered by eight runs to surmount a mammoth target of 212, which gave the Peshawar Zalmi their second win and pushed Qalandars to the brink of elimination in the HBL PSL-9 at the Gaddafi Stadium, here on Sunday night.
Lahore Qalandars’ had a poor start to the chase when their in-form opening batsman Sahibzada Farhan 15 (12) departed in the third over of the innings while out-of-form Fakhar Zaman 4 (8) continued to fail his team as he crashed out in the fifth over with team’s total score at 38. Rassie Van der Dussen and Shai Hope gave their team hope to claim their first win and keep their hopes of playoffs alive. Rassie played freely while Hope adopted caution to construct a partnership of 71 runs in about eight overs and by the time Hope fell in the thirteenth over, Lahore Qalandars needed 103 runs in 45 balls.
Rassie kept playing freely and found able partners in pinch-hitter Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti 20 (13) and Jahandad Khan 13 (9) and brought his team closer to victory. Rassie completed his maiden century of the HBL PSL-9 with a huge 6 off Naveen ul Haq in the Qalandars needed 18 runs off the last over but could score only 9 courtesy as last ball 6 by Brathwaite and they faltered by 8 runs.
Lahore Qalandars might have lost the match but Rassie Van der Dussen won hearts of the Lahorites and fans across the globe for his scintillating knock of which will be remembered in the years to come. Dussen came very close to snatch victory from the jaw but his Herculean effort came to nothing when he lost the strike in the last over and Jahandad Khan also fell off Walter.
Rassie Van der Dusen’s knock of 104 not out was laced with seven boundaries and six 6s to and it was Rassie’s maiden in the PAL as well as maiden of the HBL PSL-9.
Naveen ul Haq, with two scalps, was the most successful as well as expensive bowler for the Zalmi as he leaked while Luke Wood, Paul Walter and Salman Irshad bagged one wicket each for 46, 41 and 39 runs respectively. Saim Ayub bowled one over to open the bowling for the Zalmi and conceded three runs while Arif Yaqoob conceded 21 runs off his three overs.
Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi had posted the highest total 211-4 of the HBL PSL 9 so far as their batsmen prospered on a batting friendly Gaddafi Stadium turf. Saim Ayub hit a scintillating 88 runs off 55 balls which included eight boundaries and four towering 6s, Babar Azam, who narrowly missed third fifty of the HBL PSL 9, scored 48 off 36 balls while Rovman Powell had pressed the cruise button to his innings and banged 46 runs off 20 balls to help Peshawar Zalmi 211 runs. Asif Ali hit a six in his three ball stint at the crease. Mohammad Haris and Paul Walter returned unbeaten to the hut with 12 and 2 runs to their names.
Rovman Powell had the license to kill after a solid 136 run partnership for the first wicket between Saim Ayub and Babar Azam and Powell grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Powell went berserk and took Zalmi beyond the highest total of the year so far. Rovman Powell was promoted up the batting order to press the paddle and he did the same, hitting five boundaries and two 6s for his 46 runs during a short explosive stay at the crease.
Babar Azam fell two runs short of a well-deserved third fifty in the HBL PSL 9 when he was caught in the deep mid-wicket off Shaheen Shah Afridi. But the day belonged to young Saim Ayub who was the mainstay of Zalmi’s mammoth total.
Rovman Powell 46 (20) and Saim Ayub 88 (55) played power-packed knocks to help Peshawar Zalmi post the highest total of the HBL PSL 9 and interestingly the two double-century in this year’s HBL PSL have been posted by the same teams against each other.
Saim Ayub was adjudged Player of the Match for his match-winning knock of 88 (55) runs.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for the Qalandars as he grabbed three wickets of Babar, Saim and Asif Ali for 33 runs in four overs while the Powell’s scalp was claimed by the young Jaahndad Khan.
The Peshawar Zalmi have moved up the ladder with the second win in four matches to the fourth spot while the Lahore Qalandars are reeling at the bottom of the table with the fifth continuous loss. Zalmi will face off Islamabad United at the same venue on February 26 (Monday) at 7 p.m.
