DUBAI: The trademark smile on Darren Sammy’s was glaringly missing on Friday night when Peshawar Zalmi captain admitted his team had to fight it to wriggle out of the tight corner the defending HBL Pakistan Super League champions face now.

Peshawar were playing the chase up game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium from ball one of their response to Islamabad United’s commanding tally of 182-5 after Sammy decided that batting second would suit his side.

“Hindsight is hell of a thing and if you could have seen what would have happen before then it is of no use. We had backed ourselves to get the runs which were quite chaseable but losing wickets in a cluster [Peshawar slumping to 92-8] put us on the back foot,” he said.

“But we are still very much in the running for playoffs. In the last two tournaments were on top and this time we have a big fight on our hands to get there. The guys are all aware of the situation that we are facing and will go all out to make to the next stage.”

Islamabad’s 26-run win have almost guaranteed them a playoff spot as Misbah-ul-Haq’s team moved to the top of the standings with this fifth victory.

Samit Patel and fellow left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar — who was playing his first T20 fixture in 18 months — shared seven wickets between them for 59 runs with the England player snaring 4-34.

The solitary bright spot for Peshawar was the dogged ninth-wicket partnership between Wahab Riaz, who scored a career-best 33, and Umaid Asif (24) as the pace duo added 55 runs.

The batting star for Islamabad was J.P. Duminy, the 33-year-old South Africa left-hander who anchored the innings with a well-paced knock to cross the half-century mark for the 40th time in 233 T20 appearances after Sammy, who was back at the helm after missing two matches through injury, chose to bowl first at the toss

Duminy hit 73 from 54 balls with the aid of six fours and four sixes. Asif Ali provided the impetus with a swashbuckling 45 off 24 balls, punctuated by four sixes and two fours, as they forged a defining partnership of 71 in only 34 deliveries for the fourth wicket.

Wahab grabbed all three wickets falling to a bowler with Shadab Khan (0) and Fahim Ashraf (1) both being run out.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

J.P. Duminy not out 73
L. Ronchi c Dawson b Wahab 27
Hussain Talat b Wahab 29
Shadab Khan run out 0
Asif Ali b Wahab 45
Fahim Ashraf run out 1

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-3) 7

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs) 182

FALL OF WKTS: 1-39, 2-100, 3-100, 4-171, 5-182.

DID NOT BAT: Misbah-ul-Haq, S.R. Patel, Mohammad Sami, Zafar Gohar, S.T. Finn.

BOWLING: Hasan Ali 4-0-35-0; Umaid Asif 4-0-34-0; Dawson 4-0-36-0; Wahab Riaz 4-0-30-3; Ibtisam Sheikh 3-0-31-0; Smith 1-0-12-0.

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Kamran Akmal lbw b Patel 22
A.D.S. Fletcher c Fahim b Patel 19
D.R. Smith b Patel 8
Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Zafar 13
Khushdil Shah c Hussain b Shadab 8
L.A. Dawson b Zafar 1
D.J.G. Sammy b Zafar 0
Hasan Ali c Duminy b Patel 15
Wahab Riaz not out 33
Umaid Asif c Patel b Fahim 25
Ibtisam Sheikh not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, W-4, NB-1) 12

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 156

FALL OF WKTS: 1-32, 2-53, 3-53, 4-75, 5-76, 6-76, 7-91, 8-92, 9-147.

BOWLING: Mohammad Sami 4-0-29-0; Finn 2-0-23-0; Patel 4-0-34-4; Fahim Ashraf 2-0-17-1; Shadab Khan 4-0-21-1; Zafar Gohar 4-0-25-3.

RESULT: Islamabad United won by 26 runs.

UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Ahmed Shahab (Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: J.P. Duminy.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2018