DUBAI: It was a one-way traffic in the HBL Pakistan Super League on Sunday night as Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz combined to help Peshawar Zalmi steamroll Lahore Qalandars by seven wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
A.B. de Villiers, the retired South African legend, must have wished for a happier ending rather than a crushing defeat on his 37th birthday.
Leading the side in the absence of injured Mohammad Hafeez, de Villiers just watched helplessly as Lahore were blown away inside 16 overs for only 78 — the second lowest total in PSL history after their own 59 last year, also against Peshawar.
Hasan was simply unplayable upfront after Darren Sammy had elected to field upon winning the toss. The Pakistan paceman took all the four wickets to go down in the mandatory power play overs, including the prized scalp of de Villiers.
Fakhar Zaman was the first to go, top-edging a simple chance for Umaid Asif to hold on after making only six. Next up was Sohail Akhtar, caught at cover for the same score as his opening partner.
And following de Villiers exit after striking three boundaries in an eight-ball 14, Hasan cleaned up Brendan Taylor (1) on the last ball of the sixth over as Lahore slid to 39-4.
The procession continued unabated. Ibtisam, the young leg-spinner from Hyderabad, chipped in with the wickets of Hardus Viljoen (1) and Hassaan Khan (7) before Wahab completed the last rites as the left-armer finished with 3-17 in 3.1 overs.
Scoreboard
LAHORE QALANDARS:
Fakhar Zaman c Umaid b Hasan 6
Sohail Akhtar c Umar b Hasan 6
A.P. Devcich c Ibtisam b Pollard 18
A.B. de Villiers b Hasan 14
B.R.M. Taylor b Hasan 1
Agha Salman c Ibtisam b Wahab 13
G.C. Viljoen lbw b Ibtisam 1
H. Khan st Kamran b Ibtisam 7
Shaheen Shah Afridi b Wahab 4
Haris Rauf b Wahab 0
Rahat Ali not out 1
EXTRAS: (LB-5, W-2) 7
TOTAL: (all out, 15.1 overs) 78
FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-14, 3-37, 4-39, 5-56, 6-60, 7-70, 8-72, 9-75.
BOWLING: Hasan Ali 4-0-15-4; Umaid Asif 2-0-17-0; Wahab Riaz 3.1-0-17-3 (2w); Ibtisam Sheikh 4-0-14-2; Pollard 2-0-10-1.
PESHAWAR ZALMI:
Kamran Akmal b Shaheen 0
Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Haris 1
Umar Amin not out 61
W.L. Madsen b Rahat 5
K.A. Pollard not out 6
EXTRAS: (LB-2, W-6) 8
TOTAL: (3 wkts, 10.1 overs) 81
FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-6, 3-62.
DID NOT BAT: L.A. Dawson, D.J.G. Sammy, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif, Ibtisam Sheikh.
BOWLING: Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-0-25-1 (4w); Haris Rauf 3-0-24-1 (2w); Viljoen 1-0-13-0; Rahat Ali 2-0-9-1; Hassaan Khan 1-0-2-0; Agha Salman 0.1-0-6-0.
RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by seven wickets.
UMPIRES: R.K. Illingworth (England) and Rashid Riaz (Pakistan).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hasan Ali.
Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2019
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