DUBAI: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi played an extraordinary inning to steer Peshawar Zalmi to a remarkable two-wicket victory which was enough to displace Quetta Gladiators at the top of the 2017 HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) here on Saturday night.

The former Peshawar skipper blasted 45 in a 23-ball quickfire knock to help his side overtake Quetta’s 128 all out with four balls to spare, striking three sixes and three fours at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

On a pitch turning square, batting became hazardously tough the moment Darren Sammy decided bowling would be the best option upfront. Mohammad Asghar obliged his captain with a brace in his first over; having Asad Shafiq neatly stumped by Kamran Akmal on the very first ball and then forcing Ahmed Shehzad — coming into this game on the back of successive half-centuries — to offer extra-cover fielder Sohaib Maqsood catching practice without scoring.

Kevin Pietersen (41 off 43 balls, four boundaries) and Rilee Rossouw (38 off 34, three fours and two sixes) survived long enough to share the highest partnership of the game. The two of them added 86 for the third wicket.

But once they departed, Quetta lost their last six wickets for the addition of just 30 runs with Nawaz (18) the only batsman to enter double figures.

Man-of-the-match Asghar finished with 3-33, while pacemen Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz both grabbed two wickets apiece.

Peshawar’s inning began in bizarre fashion as Zulfiqar Babar delivered an 11-ball over which featured seven wides. However, Quetta were looking for wickets at regular intervals. They were duly rewarded as the batsmen got fidgety after Peshawar had seemingly weathered the storm.

But suddenly, a score-line of 50-1 became 52-6 with Mahmudullah almost taking a hat-trick but Nawaz couldn’t hold a very difficult chance offered by Afridi.

Afridi then took the game away with invaluable contributions from Kamran Akmal (26) and Mohammad Hafeez (22) coming in handy.

Both Peshawar and Quetta, who lost to Islamabad United by a single run on Friday night, now have nine points with the former heading the standings. That could change in the last league fixture if Islamabad emerge victorious to not only take top spot but the right to play Peshawar in the first play-off game in Sharjah on Tuesday night.

Mathematically, Lahore Qalandars are all but out of contention after losing the last-ball thriller against Karachi Kings in the evening on Saturday.

Scoreboard

QUETTA GLADIATORS:

Asad Shafiq st Kamran b Asghar 3

Ahmed Shehzad c Sohaib b Asghar 0

K.P. Pietersen c Hasan b Asghar 41

R.R. Rossouw c Hasan b Shakib 38

Mohammad Nawaz c and b Hasan 18

Sarfraz Ahmed run out 8

Mahmudullah b Wahab 0

Hassaan Khan run out 5

Zulfiqar Babar c Wahab b Hasan 0

Umar Gul c and b Wahab 2

T.S. Mills not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-9, W-3) 12

TOTAL (all out, 20 overs) 128

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-4, 3-90, 4-98, 5-118, 6-118, 7-121, 8-122, 9-126.

BOWLING: Hasan Ali 4-0-22-2; Mohammad Asghar 4-0-33-3; Shakib Al Hasan 4-1-25-1 (1w); Wahab Riaz 4-0-17-2 (2w); Shahid Afridi 4-1-22-0.

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Tamim Iqbal st Sarfraz b Mahmudullah 7

Kamran Akmal lbw b Nawaz 26

M.N. Samuels c sub b Mills 7

Mohammad Hafeez c Sarfraz b Mills 22

Shakib Al Hasan run out 1

Sohaib Maqsood c Asad b Mahmudullah 0

D.J.G. Sammy c Nawaz b Mahmudullah 0

Shahid Afridi not out 45

Wahab Riaz c Sarfraz b Mills 1

Hasan Ali not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-12) 13

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 19.2 overs) 130

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-50, 3-51, 4-52, 5-52, 6-52, 7-89, 8-113.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Asghar.

BOWLING: Zulfiqar Babar 4-1-23-0 (5w); Hassaan Khan 4-0-23-0 (1w); Mahmudullah 3.2-0-31-3; Mills 4-0-20-3 (4w); Mohammad Nawaz 4-0-32-1.

RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by two wickets.

UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab (Pakistan) and Ahsan Raza (Pakistan).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Asghar.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2017