PSL 2021-22: Lahore Qalandars hand Peshawar Zalmi 29-run loss despite scrappy fielding

Karachi: Lahore Qalandars dropped half a dozen catches but still managed a 29-run win over Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Wednesday. Despite scrappy fielding, Lahore restricted Peshawar to 170-9 after Fakhar Zaman (66) and Mohammad Hafeez (37) had lifted Lahore to 199-4. Fast bowler David Wiese (2-11) came close to record first hat trick this season when Peshawar’s last man Salman Irshad was ruled out leg before wicket but the batter successfully overturned the decision as television replays showed the ball would have missed the stumps. The pace of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (2-19) made early inroads when Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai was clean bowled by the left-armer off the third ball without scoring. Hussain Talat struggled to score 15 off 24 balls in a 62-run stand with Kamran Akmal (41), but the left-hander could not profit from the three dropped catches.

Young fast bowler Zaman Khan (3-32), who had dropped a difficult catch of Talat at third man, removed both batsmen off successive deliveries in his return spell as Talat was caught in the deep by Fakhar and the fast bowler followed it up by rattling the stumps of Akmal off the next delivery. Lahore’s ace spinner — Rashid Khan of Afghanistan — made a strong comeback by removing Shoaib Malik (7) in the 12th over despite conceding 15 runs off his first over against Akmal, playing his first game this season after testing positive for COVID-19. Haider Ali, who was also dropped early in his innings, top-scored with 49 before Lahore struck in the last two overs by claiming four wickets for 12 runs, including Haider, who got run out off a direct throw from Fakhar. Earlier, the opening pair of Fakhar and Abdullah Shafique (41) laid a solid foundation of 94 runs by the halfway mark after Lahore lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Shafique holed out at deep mid-wicket off legspinner Usman Qadir (1-43), who also should have got the wicket of Fakhar but Haider dropped a sitter on the edge of the boundary which went for a six. However, it didn’t cost Peshawar much as Fakhar soon perished when Ben Cutting took a well-judged catch at deep mid-wicket while attempting a big hit against medium fast bowler Hussain Talat. Hafeez and Rashid, however, ensured Lahore end up with a formidable total by hammering 39 runs off the final 14 balls. Rashid smashed three sixes in his unbeaten 22 off just 8 balls while Hafeez hit three fours and a six. Lahore now have four points from three games and are second in the points table in the six-team event behind Multan Sultans, who have won all four of their matches and have eight points. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.